Hellsing Cats
by catsvrsdogscatswin
Summary: Alucard meets a girl who is more than she seems. Is there really such thing as a werecat? This is my own uniqe timeline, basically, the battle for London happened, but Walter was the only one who died(All the Millennium people died too, of course). Alucardxoc, I lost a bet for it, sorry. Iscariot, a new Oc mercenary group, and a whole mess more are included.(Being revised)
1. Chapter 1

_Unknown POV:_

I sniffed the air as the wind blew fresh scent straight towards me, and grinned. There. A human, small, young, male, and terrified. Something moved through the woods towards him, deliberately cracking small twigs. He whimpered as a shadowy presence loomed over him. A scream split the night air as blood sprayed up, splattering the ground and filling the air with its copper stench. I moved back to balance on the balls of my feet. _I got you now_ boy_._

_Integra's POV:_

The report sat on my desk as I took a pull from my cigar. Vampire attacks had been reported, in a small town in Canada, but another message had just come in, saying they had stopped. Iscariot had no jurisdiction there, and all their vampire hunting agents had been located. Alucard and Seras had also been out in the field. Who then, had taken down this one? Some unknown force not affected by the recent battle for London? Or just some lucky boy with a silver knife? It was our duty to find out. I stubbed out my cigar. "Roger! Fetch Alucard and Seras immediately." Roger bowed. "Yes mam. Right away." A short while later both stood before my desk.

"A vampire has been sighted and eliminated in Canada. All Iscariot forces at that time were accounted for. I need you two to go over there and find who did it. Immediately. And no killing unless the target has been proven hostile to our cause." Alucard looked disappointed at the 'no killing' part. "As you wish master." He muttered as he phased through the wall. "Yes sir!" Seras saluted me and left by the door. "I'll find you." I whispered as I lit another cigar.

_Unknown's POV:  
_ _Another day, another dollar_. I sighed as I rattled my way through baggage. Another day at the noisy, pushy, crowded, _loud_, airport. Another day hoping for a meager raise in my salary. I wiggled my shoulders, feeling my knives settle against my skin. It was chancy, wearing weapons at an airport, but no way in hell am I waltzing about without even a single blade to my name. A hand tapped my shoulder and I turned, seeing a man in a soldiers uniform standing over me with two coffins in his luggage. I raised an eyebrow "Need help with something sir?" I asked in my politest French accented voice.

I wasn't French in the slightest, but I _was_ in Canada, and this man, even if he wasn't a vampire himself, he had one in his coffin and if the other one was empty, then that was another vampire on the loose. I looked him in the eye and was surprised to see that he was free of the slight pinkish discoloration caused by vampire hypnotism. _A friend maybe?_ He blinked and stood on one foot. "I lost my way, I'm supposed to bring these over to…" he bent over to read the tag on the topmost one.

"Terminal C" I plastered a friendly smile on my face. That was for trucks and cabs. So we now had two more vampires running around in the city. "Right this way sir." I said walking towards it. He followed me and when we got there gave me his sincerest thanks. He looked at the truck he was supposed to be loading them in with exasperation.

I caught the look. Just when he opened his mouth to ask me for help I 'happened' to glace at my watch and yelped. "Oh crap, sorry sir I have to go and pick up a customer." I hightailed it, feeling a little guilty leaving him there to deal with the coffins by himself. On the other hand, I was going to be hunting those vampires later and was not going to give them _any_ advantage which touching the coffins most definitely would be. Might as well stick my hand up their nose and say "Here, look! This is what I smell like! Come after me at night!"

Nope, not for me. A couple hours later my shift ended, and I collected my money and went home. I took the bus, because there was no way I was walking home. I'm young, female, and even if do say so myself, well-endowed. And if I walked home, monumentally _stupid_. It could happen. I'm blond. Well, normally. I pushed the wig on my head, mentally cursing its itchy black locks. I looked at my money mournfully, cursing the fact that I had to work at an airport.

But it was well rewarded, considering I usually managed to catch incoming vampires the same way I caught the ones today. That other one though, the one that came a couple weeks back, he was tricksy. Coming in by train, and burying his coffin as soon as he got here. Thank god Techno was working the clubs, or who knows how long he could have gone undetected.

Speaking of, this was his stop. A lanky, purple haired teen clambered onto the bus, carefully balancing boxes. He collapsed onto the seat next to me, dumping a box into my lap. "Wasn't your hair green yesterday?" I asked, waiting until he was settled before dumping the box back on him. He shrugged playfully. "I wanted to match your eyes, the color of my dreams, the sweet… ok, I got nothing. Do you know how hard it is to make poetical verses about purple?"

I grinned "Go get run over by a bus." He gave me a hurt puppy look. "Such a warrior maid, who can slay men with but a scornful word, coating them in the blood of…of… hurtfulness." I snickered. "I'll coat you in _rubber_." Instantly he straightened. "You wouldn't!" I laughed out loud this time. "I damn well would, this is me we're talking about." He sighed. "True. I ought to get points for trying." I shrugged. "First off, I probably wouldn't just because I'd need to leave an opening for you to breathe; second, I know a bunch of people, my brother first among them, who would happily kill you for flirting with me."

He sung an arm over my shoulder. "I need the practice to flirt with the girl of my dreams, should I ever find her, and I know you won't take offense because you know I don't mean it. Also, I just like annoying you." I pushed him off. "You are an insufferable idiot, and I… oh bugger." He turned to see what I was staring at and snickered. The television hanging from the buses ceiling was showing a little boy in the hospital, telling reporters what happened to him. "I-it was d-dark a-and I w-was r-really scared a-and this t-thing tried to k-kill me and t-then it w-was gone a-and then t-there was b-b-_blood_." I blushed, but the story wasn't done yet.

"A-and then…" the boy paused, and a subtle change crept over his features. "t-there was this g-girl and she was f-fighting the m-monster a-and yelling s-stuff at it a-" The television mercifully short-circuited. I glared at Techno. "Say one word and _you are dead_." He grinned. "I had nothing to do with that short-circuit if that's what you mean. Is that why you're wearing contacts?"

I shook my head. "See, this is why you shouldn't flirt with me. I saw a man in uniform bring _two_ coffins in, and _one_ of them was full. I had my contacts in, and my wig on, and I didn't touch them, but I'm not taking chances." I looked up. We had reached our stop and as we got off I felt a chill ride down my spine. I sniffed but I could smell nothing. _Wait…Crap!_ I swallowed. The other vampire, the one who wasn't in his coffin, was somewhere nearby.

Techno's POV:

The Captain suddenly tensed up as we passed a hospital. "I suppose you are still embarrassed over that one incident." I said causally, watching her reaction. She nodded and blushed. "I just _hate _needles." I gulped. She continued. "And it was a long time ago, even if it was a big a deal as he said." I don't know how she does that. For all anyone else knew, we were just a couple of casual friends, shooting the breeze about some hospital accident, for someone familiar with our code, we were two people chatting about how there was a very powerful, and very old vampire, very close by. That girl's got skills. Acting skills.

We got to our apartment building safely. "See you tonight?" I asked, trying to blush like a boy asking for a date. She grinned. "Of course silly." I headed out the door, trying not to do a touchdown dance. Two vampires in one month! This was going to be _fun_. I sobered up though, thinking of one of Captain's most cherished rules. "Always assume that when you encounter a vampire, he's going to be _much_ more powerful than you. That way, he can't take you by surprise nearly so much. Because one day, there might actually be a vampire stronger than you, or me."

_Alucard's POV:_

After picking up Police Girl we decided to head down to the hospital and see the last victim. The woman at the door eyed me suspiciously but let us in to see him. The boy was sniveling in his bed, holding his arm. Police Girl gently talked to him as I let my eye wander over to the window. A bus had pulled up beneath us and disengaged its passengers. The roving throng pushed and pulled beneath us as the humans went through the stupid motions of a mediocre existence.

Police Girl said "_The boy only saw that his defender was female, and young. He was attacked in the forest nearby."_ I scowled. Stupid boy. As we headed out I caught a scent of something…interesting. It started at the bus stop and went on towards an apartment block. It was human, but there was something off. I narrowed my eyes behind the red-tinted glass of my sunglasses. Could it be…?

_The Captain's POV: _

I yawned and stretched, memories rising to the surface of my brain. The knocking sound that had woken me up did not cease. I carefully eased myself out of the maze of cats and blankets that covered me. I stumbled towards the door, from which the pounding was emanating. "Zara open this thrice-be-damned door before I break it down!" A male voice issued from the other side. I smiled. "A bright and shiny good evening to you too." I yanked open the down, ducked the knock that was intended for the door, and swept the legs out from under the knocker. My brother fell to the floor with a painful "Oomph!"

I kicked him. "Up you get, there's two more vampires on the loose and I for one am not going to sit around." I went into the bathroom to change. My leather fighting outfit was there, as well as an impressive assortment of knives. I had about fifty, from a tiny needle-like throwing knife to a huge blade that was almost a sword, and everything in between. I actually didn't have that many, because I had 25 loosely hidden ones, ones that a determined searcher might find, and 25 that you had to stripe me down to the skin to find, and even then I still might have had some.

That might have seemed a tad excessive but I was very much a human, with a human tendency to miss, and a human tendency to be caught. Also, I hated guns. Loud, and messy, with a need to be reloaded. A knife does not need to be reloaded, does not shout to the world, "Hey! Look! I'm something you shouldn't have!" and does not blare it's presence with every usage. Of course, all my knifes were _very_ blessed silver, religiously renewed every day by myself, and re-blessed every Sunday by the most faithful religious official I could find.

They bit. Oh, dear god did they bite. Some of the weaker freaks only needed me to slash them before they dissolved. Again, maybe excessive, but I knew that the longer I went, the more likely something nasty was going to come after me. I checked my appearance in the mirror. My blonde hair was slightly past my shoulders, and bright purple eyes blinked out at me from a slender face. I had bound my breasts flat, purely because it wasn't worth the attention leaving them unbound, and the more inconsistency in my sightings would help me save face in front of the public.

I had black fingerless gloves on, because I didn't want to do a FBF on the vamps. I probably would do a partial freak-out anyway, but no one deserves to die like _that_. I shuddered. Aforementioned leather outfit and I was ready to rock and roll.

_***Time Skip***_

_Ohhh boy._ I put my face in my hands. Everyone had heard about me saving that kid. It was considered the best thing I had every done. _I hate, I just_ hate_ it when everyone starts praising my 'glorious image'._ Techno walked over to me. He opened his mouth to speak and I pointed my finger at him. "If you value your life, your sanity, or your existence you will not say _one word_._" _I uncovered my head and stood up. He had both hands over his mouth and was desperately trying not to say anything. He burst out. "I know you're pissed and everything but I told them about the vampire andAuger found something." I raised my eyebrows.

Auger was our technology/researcher person. I swear that girl can find _anything_. She wasn't _special_ like me or Techno or Maniac but she was still good. I walked over to our computer where she was rapidly typing. "What do you got for me?" She took a sip from a pop bottle next to her before answering. "I've looked on our list for old, strong, male vampires. Several matches came up, and I cross-referenced which ones might have been associated with _any_ military group. I had two matches, and narrowed them down by looked at security photos by the area you sensed him. This is what I came up with."

She double-clicked and two windows popped up. One was a bit from our profile list, and the other was a replaying clip that showed a _very_ tall man in a red coat walking out of the hospital. Techno nudged me. "Time I've seen anyone top you in height for _years_." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not even that tall. Five ten, tops. The problem," I tapped the screen. "Is this guy. If our profile is anything to go by, he's going to be a nasty fight."

I rested my head on my palm, pondering the problem. I sighed, realizing that this was _not _going to be very comfortable. "He's too good for us, even combined. _Especially _combined." Techno frowned. "Why's that?" Ager sipped her pop. "Think it through. If she does a Full Body Freak on this guy, which is not all that unlikely, _we're _just in the way. Do you want to be in that _thing's_ way?"

I pushed my hair back. "I'll take him. You guys will need to go to the airport, were I've scheduled a flight for all of you. Zan will drive the van there. Pack everything you cannot live without and get on that plane. The rest will be mailed in due time. Once the plane lands you will go straight towards the European Safe House. I'll meet you there, if I'm not dead or captured. Auger protested "But Captain, he'll-" I cut her off "That's not important. The easier you lot leave the more of a chance I'll have."

They both nodded and headed for the door. Everyone was hugging me, and some were crying, but I felt as cool as ice. My friends and family would be safe no matter what and I really didn't care what happened to me beyond that. I watched the van pull out of the abandoned parking garage and speed along the road. I pushed my hair back again; even though it wasn't in my way. _Well, here goes nothing. _

_Alucard's POV:_

I stalked trough the forest, feeling annoyed. The footprints from the attack on the boy had been brushed away by camera crews and gawkers, the scent damaged likewise. It was stupid, how the rest of humanity had decided to come blundering along, ruining the scent trail. I caught another scent, going away, but it had led straight into a stream. "_Master!_" said Police Girl's voice in my head _"I found her house!"_

I phased there, but it was empty. The person _had_ been there, very recently, and the person was female. Police Girl was standing in the kitchen looking at a bunch of papers stuck to the refrigerator. They were just random snippets, like "Get more milk" or "Dunk brother in pond." There was a particularly long one that said "Ways I am going to kill T." Police Girl was staring at this one. "She must have hated that guy a lot." She said, pointed to one about halfway down that said "Tear out his entrails, wait for him to recover, then hang him upside down from his entrails from a metal rod in a thunderstorm." I laughed. "She's very imaginative, that's for sure."

"So what do we do now master?" I turned and sat down where I would have a view of the front down. I folded my arms behind my head, saying "We wait here until she comes back."

Multiple POVs:

Seras shifted in her seat, waiting. _How can Master be this patient? _She asked herself. They had been waiting for hours. She had already read all the notes on the fridge, even the long one about that one boy. She wondered idly if he was the vampire the girl killed. If so, she sincerely wished he had a peaceful end. She doubted that the girl would actually carry out some of her threats, thanks to a small note written in a different hand at the bottom that said "Sorry about all the above, he just pisses her off a lot."

I sniffed the air warily. They had come to the decoy house, and were probably waiting inside. It wasn't _just_ a decoy house; I did live in there upon occasion. I trudged up the path, every nerve on a hair-trigger. I felt my nose itch as it tried to shift to a more convenient form for smelling. I sneezed. "_Stupid family genes_." I thought. I wrinkled it again as the acrid smell of vampires hit that delicate appendage. I sighed. I needed to be relaxed, because the Elder vampire in there could probably smell me just well as I could smell him.

I fumbled at the door and drew it open, flicking the lights on as I went. "Hello." A voice purred in my ear. I shrieked and let fear flood my system as I hit him as hard as I could with my elbow and raced for the door. I slammed it shut and ran down the path. _Part 1, done._ I smiled.

Alucard cocked his head, listening. A heartbeat was coming down the path. He sniffed cautiously, letting her smell wash over him. The smell of woods was on her, as well as the city smell of cars and sweat and humanity. There was another smell, metal maybe? And cats. I heard a sneeze and heard her think something faintly. Something about her family. She fumbled with the door, opening it and flicking on the lights as I phased behind her.

"Hello" I purred into her ear. She shrieked and hit me with her elbow. I noticed coolly that she had hit me in a spot that would have caused maximum pain and damage in a normal human. I hissed and fell to my knees. She bolted pasted me to the door and I smelled the fear on her. I felt mild disappointment. Perhaps she was just lucky. I stood up and phased out into her yard. I listened for her thoughts. _Honestly, I just hate it when I have to do the stupid prey animal routine. _Was that her? _Where would I go if I was terrified and running from someone in my house? _It _was_ her. Interesting._ River I suppose. He might be stupid enough to follow me and running water is a problem for him even if he is that strong._

_Zara's POV:_

I ran into the forest, letting adrenaline take the place of fear. I sighed. _Honestly, I just hate it when I have to do the stupid prey animal routine. Where would I go if I was terrified and running from someone in my house? River I suppose. He might be stupid enough to follow me and running water is a problem for him even if he is that strong. _I changed direction focusing on the need to get to the river and not letting him read my thoughts. I picked up my ears after five minutes of running. A rhythmic thudding behind me.

No breathes, no beating heats, just two sets of pounding feet. Damn it. I heard them speed up. One or both had caught sight of me. I took a deep breath, palmed a throwing star, and jumped up. I flipped and saw a woman in uniform surging towards me. I flicked the throwing star towards her, catching her in the throat with blessed sliver. She shrieked and fell back.

I hit the ground running. I heard a feral snarl close behind me and almost panicked at the thought I hadn't stopped her. I relaxed (slightly) once I realized there was only one pair of feet chasing after me. I felt the air behind me shift and ducked, trying not to lose any speed. A bullet shot past my head and buried itself in a nearby tree. _That was just not fair. He's superhumanly fast and strong and has a gun. _I saw the trees were getting thinner and heard rushing water. But it was wrong somehow, as if… _crap. _I didn't slow down as I broke out of the trees and felt my heart sink as my guess was confirmed.

I had come out in the wrong spot. The river was there alright, it was just deep in a rock-studded gorge. And there was no way in hell I was stupid enough to jump _that _far. I might, by astronomical odds, make it…BANG! Well, I wasn't making it _now._ I was slightly comforted by the fact he had hit my leg, instead of anywhere vital. That slight comfort was not very comforting at all as the pain spread upwards through my body as I stumbled to a stop by the edge of the gorge.

I heard slow clapping. I turned painfully to see that damned vampire standing there, an amused expression on his face. He was the one clapping, the gun that had shot my leg tucked under his arm. "Very well done girl. Very well done indeed." I glared at him. "Go die in a hole."

He put on a fake expression of hurt. "What have I done to deserve such anger?" _Oh, no, you are playing this game with the wrong person._ "Gee, I don't know," I said sarcastically. "Maybe, _you shot me in the leg_!" He grinned, showing his fangy mouth. "You hurt my fledgling." I put my hands on my hips. "You broke into my house." He chuckled. "Such a funny girl" he said, eyes roving up and down my figure. I mimicked his tone "Such a perverted vampire." He grinned even wider. I thought his head might fall off.

He cocked his head. "What, I'm just looking." I rolled my eyes. _This is exactly why I bind my breasts before I go vampire hunting._ "I wouldn't normally ignore that, but I don't want to fight you, so let's just call it even." I stuck out my hand. He smirked again. "What if I wanted revenge for my fledgling?" I shrugged. "Then you wouldn't have bothered talking to me until I was helpless. I know your type." He narrowed his eyes and phased so he was right in front of me. "And what if you were helpless this whole time and I was just toying with you?" he said, looming over me. I refused to be cowed and met his eyes squarely.

I grinned, imitating him, and showed him a knife balanced in my hand. "I have enough of this to make even you back down, _Alucard_." I put emphasis on his name and was satisfied to see his eyes widen. I felt him probe at my mind and put up my mental walls. His composure didn't slip at all, he just bowed. "I must apologize, but I didn't catch your name Miss..."

I kept my expression neutral. "I didn't drop it. Bye now." I turned and began limping my way along the river. He appeared in front of me. "It would be rude of me not to escort me to your home." I snorted. "It would also be rude of you to shoot me. Don't you have a fledgling to save, or did you forget that?" He hissed under his breath and phased off. I smiled to myself. _Guess he did forget. Idiot._ I limped along until I came to a shallower part of the gorge. I slipped into the water and swam upstream. What seemed like hours later, I came to the spot I had prepared for just such an eventuality, namely a cave that was invisible except from the water. I crawled in and shut my eyes, not even caring about now much my leg hurt.

_Alucard's POV:_

That girl was strong. I had managed to hit her leg, but all she did was slow down. She skidded to a stop by the cliff, and I could see she was calculating whether or not she would make it. I clapped slowly, watching her stiffen and slowly turn around. "Very well done girl. Very well done indeed." I said. She glared at me and spat "Go die in a hole." _Ohhh, a feisty one_. I looked hurt. "What have I done to deserve such anger?" She folded her arms "Gee, I don't know, maybe, _you shot me in the leg_!" I couldn't help but smirk from her reply._ Police Girl was never this, wait… _"You hurt my fledgling." She put her hands on her hips. "You broke into my house." I chuckled. "Such a funny girl." I said, letting my eyes roam over her admittedly well built figure, although she was strangely undeveloped in the chest area… wait. As she rolled her eyes I caught '_This is exactly why I bind my breasts before I go vampire hunting.' _Running disgustedly through her head. She met my gaze, carefully copying my tone said "Such a perverted vampire." I grinned wider.

_Well, she's not going to be unsettled_ that _way._ "I wouldn't normally ignore that, but I don't want to fight you, so let's just call it even." She said, sticking out her hand. I smiled again. How tempting it was, to bare her neck and _feed_. "What if I wanted revenge for my fledgling?" She shrugged, apparently unperturbed by that as well "Then you wouldn't have bothered talking to me until I was helpless. I know your type." I grinned and phased so I was towering over her. "And what if you were helpless this whole time and I was just toying with you?"

She met my eyes squarely, although she had to tilt her head up a little bit. Slowly, she grinned, imitating me and showed me something shining in her hand. It was a silver dagger, an especially _blessed_ silver dagger. "I have enough of this to make even you back down, _Alucard_." She put special emphasis on my name, and that snapped me back to our conversation. I probed at her mind, trying to find _her_ name, only to feel her put up a barrier.

I bowed. "I must apologize, but I didn't catch your name Miss..." I trailed off, waiting for her to answer. She kept her face calm and her mind shut as she replied "I didn't drop it. Bye now." She turned and began stumbling away from me down the hill. I could see I had managed to hurt her leg a lot from the way she was limping. I phased in front of her. "It would be rude of me not to escort me to your home."

She snorted and it was all I could do not to grin again. "It would also be rude of you to shoot me. Don't you have a fledgling to save, or did you forget that?" I blinked. _Who… Police Girl. Blessed silver. Oops._ I hissed in exasperation and phased back to her. She was lying where I had left her, although she had managed to get the throwing star out of her throat. I sighed in exasperation as picked her up and phased back to where we had left our coffins.

_Zara's POV:_

My first thought, upon waking, was _Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwdamnitthish urtssomuch!_

My second was; _well, it's your own bloody fault for getting shot by a vampire. You're lucky to be still breathing. Think positive._ I sat up painfully and took stock of my body. First order of business was to get the bullet out. Second, to clean myself up and get to the others. Third, avoid getting caught be Alucard. I sighed and began searching for the medical pack I had stored here. Once that was found, I gulped down some pain killers and took out the tweezers. I swallowed. This was going to hurt a lot. I stuffed some cotton balls in my mouth to muffle the screams, clicked the tweezers, and plunged them in.

I didn't scream, but I whimpered a little from pain. It had hit the muscle on my upper leg, but missed the bone. All I had to do was find the bullet and take it out, and I would be able to walk. _Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, kittens, catnip for my babies, happythoughts, happythoughts oh damn this HURTS!_ I had finally found the bullet and began pulling it out. Finally, I got the evil, nasty, vicious bullet out of my thigh. No surprise, it was blessed silver. I imagined how much pain a vampire or other cursed creature would be in right now and giggled. Tears of pain were still coming from my eyes but the bad part was over now.

_Seras's POV:_

Master was in a very bad mood. When he called Sir Integra to tell her what happened she yelled at him and told him to capture the girl who had thrown the blessed silver star at me. _"Master"_ I asked him telepathically _"Maybe you could smell her out by that star?"_ He glared at me and stalked over to the spot where he had left it. Irritably he sniffed it. He stuffed it in his pocket and stalked outside of the apartment we had rented. I had never seen him in such a bad mood before.

_Zara's POV: _

I had managed to get back to my apartment without mishap, and was currently telling everyone why we had to leave. Cats are very logical creatures, and might give me trouble if I didn't explain things. An audience of about twenty cats of varying ages sat assembled on the floor in front of me. As I finished Scrat, the head alley cat of this bit of the city brushed against my good knee, saying _'You're a good kit, and I wish you luck.'_ He left by way off the fire escape. My lip trembled. I knew I wouldn't get him to come with me, but I would miss the way he made fun of the people he met every day.

The others all pressed against me, offering in soothing murmurs in their own way. Some said they could not move across the big lake and left by the same way Scrat had. Others assembled in front of their respective carriers. I packed everyone away and headed down to the front desk. "I would like to mail these to England" I said politely. The manager gave me his thanks for staying here and assured it would all be taken care off. I smiled at him and left for the airport. I had already resigned and just had to board the plane. As I got out of the cab I felt someone watching me. I looked around as if saying farewell to Canada but saw no one.

_Wait._ There was a smell. Ghoul. I sighed. And casually backed into an alley. There. A ghoul was getting up from the ground. I unzipped my suitcase and took out one of my blessed silver knives. I bent down and silenced the poor creature. As I was putting my knife back I smelled something vamperic. Before I could react I found myself slammed into the wall. I hissed in pain and looked up at my attacker. _Alucard_.

_Alucard's POV:_

It was a risk, creating a ghoul so close to a public place, but the girl came through and dispatched it almost as soon as it resurrected. When she put the knife back in her bag, she stiffened. Before she could do anything I slammed her into a wall. She hissed, and I could feel the pain radiating up from where I had shot her.

"Let go of me you-" I casually covered her mouth. I sighed and began explaining things to her. "My master wants to talk to you. Since I don't trust you enough to just do what I tell you, I'm going to have to hypnotize you." I stared into her eyes, but she shook my influence off and closed them. I sighed. "Well, if you insist." I bent her head forward and hit her neck. She moaned softly and collapsed.

I grabbed her luggage and phased back to where our coffins where being loaded. I kicked Police Girl's coffin. She popped out with a hurt look. "Is that the girl master?" I tossed the girl into her lap. "Put her in the spare coffin." Police Girl tucked her into the spare coffin, settling her so that if she woke up suddenly she wouldn't hit her head.

After we had gotten through security, and the plane had gotten up in the air, I called Integra. "I got the girl." I said shortly. "Does she have a name?" Integra asked tartly. I shrugged "Probably, but she can put up enough of a mental barrier that I can't tell what it is."

_Zara's POV:_

Damn Alucard. Damn him to the uppermost reaches of Heaven where people frolic and sing loud enough to deafen you. I _hated_ it when people got the drop on me. To add insult to injury, I woke up in a bloody coffin. I kicked at the lid. It loosened slightly. I scowled at it and did an open palm strike. It popped open and fell off the coffin. I sat up. Alucard was sitting in a chair across from my coffin grinning. His grin widened when he saw my scowl. I pointed at him. "You are going to regret this if it's the last thing I do." I jumped out of the coffin. "That said, what's for whatever mealtime it is?" He laughed out loud this time. "Your breakfast is on that table" he said, gesturing to a table partially hidden by his chair.

"Thanks" I said shortly. I walked over to it, compensating for the plane's movement, and my poor leg. My eyes widened. This was not funny. It was set like I was dining with the Queen of England herself, the extra bits of silverware almost out numbering the food. I sighed and assumed what I and my brother called the 'fancy idiot position'. I picked my way through that meal, using every piece correctly, and putting it back. Alucard watched me do it, a sardonic expression on his face. I glared at him. "I suppose you must have been pretending to be as poor as all that, if you could have such nice table manners." He drawled. "Dennis taught me." I grumbled.

He raised an eyebrow. "Who's that?" I hastily made sure all my mental defenses were up before replying "A friend. A _dead_ friend." I turned away from him, letting some of the grief trickle through me. He hummed and asked another question. "Since you're going to be stuck with me for a while, what's your name?" I snapped. It was all just too much. "I'll tell you when I'm a rotting corpse!" I snarled at him, forgetting just what I was talking to. I found myself pinned to the wall _again_, with Alucard looking down on me. "That can be arranged" he said, bending down to sniff at my neck. I struggled against him, feeling white-hot rage streak through me.

He stopped sniffing me and backed up. "But maybe later. My master wants to see you in something more presentable." He gestured towards another door. I stalked towards it, hands clenched into fists. I slammed the door shut and turned to see some dresses laid against the counter of a bathroom. There was a red one, a dark blue one, a silver one, and a green one. I wasn't a fashion queen so I couldn't tell what style they were, or what they were made of.

I ended up picking the dark blue one, because it was the one that covered the most and fit the best. My breasts were starting to hurt after so much time bound flat, but I was going to dive into a shark tank before unbinding them in front of that creep. Plus I didn't have a bra, because the bindings were so tight. So that was a double no. I was a B-ish to C-ish, so no surprise that they hurt, really. I slid the dress over my head, secretly pleased with the fact it had slit sides. No way was anyone going to catch me in this sort of thing on a normal day, but I knew how to run in a dress.

I stalked over to Alucard and put my hands on my hips. He was sitting down, so he had to look up at me. He looked me over slowly, taking his time with my legs, hips, and chest. I glared at him. Oh, if looks could kill, vampire or no he would be 3 thousand feet under. "Where's my bag?" I asked through clenched teeth. He pointed lazily towards the coffin I was kidnapped in and I strode over. I grabbed a book blindly form my carry on and sat down, facing away from him as I read.

_Alucard's POV:_

After an hour I glanced over to see her in that same position, and grinned to myself. She was harder to get to than most people, but obviously did not like being given that once-over look of appreciation. She reacted differently than most people would too. While most people would turn red and look away, she… well, she did turn slightly red, but he could tell it was from anger. I was beginning to understand why she bound her breasts like that, if she hated that look so much. The overhead beeped "We will be landing shortly, please fasten your seat belts." I looked over to the girl, who was showing no sign of hearing the order.

I sighed. Apparently she was going to be stubborn. I walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Eek!" she screeched, jumping away from me. She put a hand over her chest, breathing hard. "_Say_ something next time! I almost had a heart attack." That certainly explained why her blood was rushing so hard. I scowled at her. "We're landing, so you need to get back in the coffin. Didn't you hear?" She blushed slightly.

"I fell asleep." She remembered what had transpired earlier and glared at me. She walked over to the place where her lid had fallen and yanked it back over to her coffin. She lay down, twitching the lid into place. I sighed and went over to straighten it out. I heard grumbling from inside and grinned. This girl, she was going to be _fun._

_Zara's POV:_

I wasn't normally a prayerful type, but this was an exception. After I got unloaded from the plane, and a particularly painful jolt, I uttered one simple prayer with the fervency of a fanatic. "God, if you ever feel the need for some random striking down, hit Alucard good and hard in the stomach. He deserves it, really." Another jolt and the lid of my coffin flew off. I sat up, looking around blindly for the culprit. He wasn't hard to find, especially when he was standing at the foot of my coffin.

Alucard grinned at me, showing off his fangs. "Have a nice ride?" I scowled. "I had a nice ride like you have a nice tan. Was that you driving? Or a suicidal monkey?" He tilted his head "What makes you think there's a difference?" I stretched before answering. "The monkey foams at the mouth and smells better." Alucard laughed and gestured behind him. "But my house is so much better than a monkey's." I craned my neck.

_So that's the Hellsings' Headquarters ._It was big, and it was a manor. My knowledge of human architecture stopped there. I know cats' dens, and I know birds' nests. I don't know people houses. Dennis taught me how to socialize, but I still had a ways to go before… normalcy. I know Alucard was saying something but I was too busy staring. "Oi!" he said, waving a hand in front of my face. "Something wrong girl?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, it's just…" I mumbled, trailing off and whispering "...Such an imposing rock pile." Alucard stared at me with raised eyebrows. He had probably lived here for generations, and saw nothing odd about such a huge house. I sighed. Time to face the consequences of staying behind. I squared my shoulders. _I got this._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Next chapter, I'm on a roll.**___

_Zara's POV:_

_ Well, this is bad._ I squirmed on the edge of my chair. Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing stared at me from across the desk. She had an air about her that made you feel guilty before she even opened her mouth. I was completely and totally clean, with nothing on my mind, and she still got me nervous. "We took the liberty of checking your records" she said, watching me for my reaction.

I kept my face neutral, but did a mental face palm. _Ok, I'm not all_ that_ clean, but it was for the purest of motives._ I raised an eyebrow. "And?" nothing more, nothing less. "You are listed as two different people of two different social backgrounds; one living in the shack you encountered Alucard in, and the other in an apartment. Why?" I sighed. "Vampire hunting is very tricky mam. I am sometimes in need of aliases." She flicked some ash from her cigar onto the ashtray.

"If that is so, we could offer employment. We are experts in the vampire hunting field and are backed by government funding." I shook my head. "If I know governments, you'll also erase my identity and tell all my friends I'm dead. I'll pass on that if you please. You had your vampire chase me, shoot me, threaten me, had me kidnapped, and stuffed me in a coffin. I'd be even crazier than usual to accept employment from you."

As I neared the end of my little speech I saw her eyes narrow, then widen in respect. "And if I told you that you had no choice?" I smiled. "Then you would waste months of your valuable time trying to break me in rein. I'll serve someone who deserves serving, not a jailer." She nodded slowly. "I can understand that. Please accept my apologies." I shook her hand. "Pleasure meeting you." She smiled, a real one this time. "The same. What's your real name?"

I listened hard. That creep Alucard was nowhere near here, but I wasn't taking any chances. "You can call me whatever you like. I'll never tell. Do you have a bathroom where I can change out of this rig?" She nodded. "By the way, Alucard brought your luggage over." I grabbed my pack and suitcase and headed for the bathroom. After checking that he hadn't touched _anything_ I pulled out my travel clothes and changed. I put a bra on and unbound my breasts, because A; they were really starting to hurt, and B; none of my casual tops would fit if I didn't.

I grinned at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing my favorite top, which was a black t-shirt with seemingly random purple swirls, which upon closer inspection showed elongated cats, twining around each other. It had a high neck, but _not _a turtleneck, which I hated. The turtlenecks other people liked always felt like a collar around my neck. It was about level with my shoulders. I had on some blue jeans and sneakers and my ever present knife collection.

After giving myself the thumbs-up I went out into the hallway. It wasn't all that hard to find my way, actually. Dennis said once that big human houses were always built around a central point, usually something big, fancy, and expensive. Integra's office had to be close to that point, and I remembered seeing a big chandelier, so I headed that way.

When I finally got there I saw that the girl I had hit earlier was arguing with some French-sounding guy with a braid. I swore under my breath. She suddenly stopped yelling at him and looked at me. I flinched, waiting to see if she attacked me or ran. She did neither. She walked right up to me and opened her mouth.

"You attacked me first so I had every right to throw that at you so if you're mad at me then I'm very sorry." I said all in one breathe before she could say anything. She giggled. "I just wanted to give it back." She handed it to me with a gloved hand. "You have very good aim." I smiled sheepishly. "I was aiming for your heart." The man next to her was glaring at me as if he wished I would shrivel up and die.

She laughed and patted my arm. "You hit a vital point anyways. No hard feelings." I relaxed and turned to the French Guy. "You heard her, no hard feelings, so wipe that look off your face." He choked and looked like he was ready to pop. The girl laughed nervously. "Now Captain Bernadotte, calm down. I'm fine, and she said she's sorry." I bowed to him slightly. "One captain to another, I swear I won't try anything like that again."

_Seras's POV: _

The girl bowed to me and Pip, saying "One captain to another, I swear I won't try anything like that again." I raised my eyebrows. "You're a bit young to be a captain, aren't you?" She shrugged and blushed a little. "It's just an honorific title for a street group." I looked curious. "What's it called?" She blushed even more. "Halloween Division" she mumbled quietly. Pip laughed. "My mercenary group is called the Wild Geese, so I understand."

The girl saluted both of us. "Yes sirs. I'm leaving now. See you around." I waved at her as she walked away, wondering where the rest of her gang was when she had been fighting vampires. _Maybe they all gang up and hunt vampires._ I laughed at the absurdity of that notion.

_Zara's POV: _

_Well that was all sorts of weirdness. _I thought as I boarded the bus to our new location.I had talked to the leader of Hellsing and a vampire, and met a guy in charge of a mercenary group called 'the Wild Geese.' That name made even Halloween Division make sense. I had fought that name to the last, being voted out by everyone else. _"It makes sense!"_ they said. _"It sounds cool!"_ said my brother. _"It ticks you off!"_ said Techno.

It was finalized despite my protests, so I just settled on ignoring the subject when it came up. _Halloween Division. Humph. Sounds like some kind of freak show._ I sighed and a slow smile spread across my face. _Freak show? And what are you? _Said the annoying voice in the back of my head. _I am_ not _some kind of_ freak_. I'm just… different._ I winced. _Ok, maybe I am a bit of a freak. I'm arguing with a voice in my head after all._

_You know what I was trying to tell us. _I sighed. _My body reacting in a violent manner towards vampires is not freakism. It's…it's a defensive gene! _I got the feeling my subconscious was raising its eyebrows. _A defensive gene is stronger muscles or faster running skills. Not turning into a bloody demon. _Oh that was it. _I am not a demon! I'm the one who's in charge here, and as the conscious part of my mind I order you to shut up!_

A faint teasing echo faded through my mind as it took my orders. _Telling the truth hurts doesn't it?_ _Seriously, you have to accept that part of you. Think about what we said._ I took a deep breath in through my nose. I knew I was telling myself the truth, that's why it hurt, on both sides. I let my mind drift back to that fateful day…

_***Flashback***_

"_Mommy, look!" A little girl was sitting in a tree, pretending to spy for enemies. She jumped down from branch to branch, clinging to them with no agility a child should have. "See what we can do!" An older woman looked on, laughing as the little girl stumbled towards her."You do a very good job at guarding us, what would we do without you?" She looked closely at the little girl's eyes, frowning. The little girl looked up at her, flustered._

_ "Did I do something wrong?" The woman felt her heart shake with fear. There was no mistaking the shape of her daughter's eyes. Perfectly pointed teeth asked "Mommy? Are you all right?" The woman blinked. She needed to get her to her husband _now_. "Y-yes, but we're going to see Daddy now, alright?"_

_ There was no mistaking it. Her daughter was coming into her power years before her time. And that meant only one thing. She grabbed her without a word of explanation and sprinted towards their home. A man was chopping wood in front of the porch. He looked up at the sound of pounding feet._

_ "She needs to be bound _now_!" the woman shrieked. The girl was moaning in her arms, crying out in pain. The man took his daughter into the house. He sat her on a chair in his work room, and then turned. He grabbed a knife. His daughter was looking at him with scared eyes. He tried calming her down. "I need to hurt you a little, but understand that Daddy loves you no matter what and that if he doesn't do this you'll never see him again."_

_ The girl nodded, her eyes filling with tears. He quickly pricked her fingers, telling her to lick the blood. She obeyed, trembling in fear. He laid her hands flat on a table he had set up in front of her. "Now, whatever you do, don't stop reading and don't taking your hands off the table." He said, placing an ancient looking book in front of her and kissing her forehead. He left, running out the front door. The girl obeyed him, chanting ancient words as she felt agonizing pain shoot through her fingers. "No matter what," she thought, clenching her teeth and letting the power drain out of her "no matter what, I'll do what Daddy told me to."_

_***End Flashback (Because I'm evil) ***_

I choked back tears through a supreme act of will. I could feel my mental barriers eroding and set them back up. I looked around to see if anyone noticed my antics. Nobody had, and it was my stop. I trudged off the bus, looking around. It was sunny, and really close to the ocean. I giggled to myself. I _love_ swimming. It's kind of funny. I'm like one half cat and my favorite pastime is swimming. My thoughts were interrupted by two impacts to my midriff.

Techno and Zan were both squeezing me around my waist. I growled at them. "Let go of me right now. I mean it. I will yell 'RAPE!' at the top of my lungs." They both instantly relaxed their hold on me. Techno bounced all around me "I thought you were dead! I really did!" I narrowed my eyes. "Just what did he do?" I tuned to my brother with one eyebrow raised.

He stood on one leg "Well he kinda, sorta, maybe, by sheerest accident, he drew all over your stuff." My eye twitched. They both looked at me. An awkward silence ensued, with both of them looking sheepish. Techno peered into my face "Hey, I think she's not going to… OH CRAP!" This was caused by me cracking my knuckles and smirking. They both took off in the opposite direction, me racing after them yelling "WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU TWO THEY'RE GOING TO NEED A SPONGE AND A DUSTPAN TO _FIND_ YOU, LET ALONE PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER!"

_**I'm trying. Tell me how bad I'm doing, because I feel like I did way better on the first chapter. **___


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three.**_

_**I think I'm getting the hang of this, Sorry if I'm doing badly, but f you read this far you must like something. You know how I said I didn't mean for it to be an Alucardxoc, but it turned out that way? I thought the first chapter hinted at it too much, and it was really bugging me, and after I finished the second chapter my little sister said that I should have more romance , and, I kid you not, we flipped a coin for it. If she won, I would have to write it Alucardxoc, and if I won I would just write it like Chapter two, only with more interaction with Alucard. She won. (T .T) so now I have to. I'm terribly sorry. Also, about Schrodinger, I'm saying Alucard ate him but only disappeared for a couple months. **_

_Alucard's POV:___

That girl would not leave me alone. I paced around my basement room, trying to figure her out. How she was utterly unafraid of me. How her eyes sparked with anger when I checked her out. The blood that pumped in sweet streams throughout her body when she ran. I hissed in anger and phased to Sir Integra. "Master, I have an unresolved discussion with that girl. Where is she?" Sir Integra shrugged. "She wouldn't hire on. I let her go on about her business." I felt anger and frustration flow through me.

"I need to talk to her. _Now_." Integra surveyed me with calm eyes. "Why?" I had to throttle down my rage, because deep inside, I didn't know why I wanted to see her again. I just did. "She smells a bit like Schrodinger. Part human, part cat. If she has the same abilities-" Integra snapped to attention. "She could very well be dangerous. Very well, you may track her. You will _not _attack her and _not_ kidnap her. You may talk with her. That's _all_." I nodded, trying to conceal my glee.

_***Time Skip***_

I stood on the edge of a path, my glee long since faded. If the girl had seen me following her, she could not have concealed her scent trail more effectively. She had taken a bus, where there would be people coming and going all the time, and then stood for a good five minutes in one spot by the ocean. After that she moved off, and was joined by two young males, one related to her. I felt a twinge of something as I smelled her joy at seeing them… jealousy maybe? I snorted at myself. _Ridiculous_.

I followed their scent towards a large house on the very edge of the cliff. I stared at the door for a moment, shrugged and knocked. It opened partway and a feminine voice asked "Who are you?" I bowed. "Alucard, and I need to talk to the girl you call Captain." The door opened all the way and a teen with a bad haircut glared suspiciously at him. "C'mon in, but I doubt she'll talk to anyone right now." He was led through the house, seeing a couple dozen scruffy teens stare at him with mingled awe and hostility.

The girl stopped in front of a door. Inarticulate screeching was coming from behind it. "Go in if you want, but I'm staying out here." The girl said, looking at the door nervously. I settled my shoulders and strode in, closing the door as I went. And immediately ducked as a blessed silver dagger embedded itself in the wall behind me. I tried to straighten, but realized it would be much better if I just found shelter.

I phased towards an upturned couch where, to my surprise, two teenage boys were cowering. The one with purple hair nudged the other, and they both stared at me. "Are you escaping the wrath of the she-evil right now too?" I frowned, puzzled. "What?" The one that smelled slightly like the girl nudged the purple-haired one with his foot. "Genius here accidentally-on-purpose drew all over her stuff with _permanent marker_." The other one shrieked. "I didn't know it was permanent or that she'd be this mad!" The other raised his eyebrows. "Maybe if you say you're sorry?"

The purple hair boy hauled himself over the couch "I'm really, really, really, really sorr-" He was cut short by a large vase thunking into his skull. They boy still conscious said "Well, at least she's finally out of knives." The girl in question vaulted over the couch and land on the knocked-out boy. "Oops. Hehe, sorry, but it's hard to stop something once you throw it." She dusted her hands off. Turning to me, she froze. I froze too.

When she was wearing that blue dress, I thought she looked nice. It wasn't just me trying to tick her off, although that was a very large part of it, she did look nice. _Nice_ did not begin to describe her now. She was _beautiful_. Her jeans and shirt hugged her form like no dress ever made, the sweat from her rampage making them stick to her even more. Her whole body heaved as she breathed, panting from throwing all those knives, and I could smell the murderous anger coming off her.

"What do _you_ want?" she snapped, bring me back to reality. I blinked, silently thanking the need for me to wear opaque glasses. If she had seen the awestruck look in my eyes… unacceptable. "I need to talk to you." She sighed gustily. "Fine. Start talking." My eyes wandered towards the two boys. "Alone." She speared me with a look, and stalked over to them.

_Zara's POV:_

This day was not going well. First, I had a major blowout over Techno magic-markering _all_ my stuff, and then this guy shows up. "Zan, you will take Techno and make him clean every bit of ink off of my stuff, and when he's done he may go jump off a cliff." I towered over him, a tiny bit off me sorry for yelling at him, but as nothing sharp hit either of them I felt in the clear. He bowed slightly and dragged Techno out of the room.

I whirled around, glaring at Alucard. "_Now_ start talking." He cut to the chase pretty quickly "Why did you refuse employment at Hellsing?" I rubbed my neck. _How to explain this without pissing him off._ "You have no choice in whether you obey Miss Integra, but you're not responsible for her." I paused to see how he was taking this. He looked relaxed enough. "These people are my friends and I look out for them. They can't defend themselves like you. Or me, but I'm not near as good as you. So I have to look out for them and me, and try not to kill them in a murderous rage."

He chuckled. "What makes you think I don't have the same problem?" I glared at him "You're damn near immortal, or as close as something on earth can get to it, and _you_ have seals on you to stop that from happening." _And vampires don't form friendships._ I thought that last bit, not wanting to offend him any more than necessary. He smirked at me.

"Nevertheless, you are going to be recruited into an organization sooner or later. Why not choose while you still can?" I frowned, thinking it over. "Fine. But I'm not joining Hellsing until I'm convinced it's the best option for me _and_ my friends." He did his huge, face splitting, fanged grin, and phased so he was right next to me. "This might help" he purred, slipping an envelope into my hand. He tipped his hat to me and phased out the door. I scowled, knowing he couldn't see me. _He's _flirting_ with me, the damned jerk._ A sly voice said in the back of my head. _You know, he's not an eyesore_. _How bad could it be? _I mentally stamped on that thought and pounded it to jelly. _No way in hell._

I looked down at the envelope. Shrugging, I took out a knife and opened it. It read: _"You are cordially invited to the Convention of Twelve, held this year at the Hellsing Manor. There will be groups for hire, as well as all the top occult organizations and their heads. Mercenary groups are required to have an invitation to enter and may not exceed four members. Formal wear is not required, although advised. Be aware that small contests of arms will be going on, although most will refrain from such activities. This is _neutral_ ground, and no group is allowed to challenge another on previous grievances. It will be held on the First of August, starting at 8'o clock sharp and ending at midnight. Lunch and dinner provided." _

I whistled under my breath. _If we could pull this off, we would be set for, like ever_. "Auger!" I strode out to the kitchen, where everyone was talking about the mysterious vampire that had swept through our home. I showed them the invitation. "If we can pull this off and get hired for something, we'll be like an official group, with hiring rights and pay and _everything_." Maniac was sitting on the counter.

"And if we do pull this off, what will become of our team name?" she teased, seeing me blush. "We… stick with the name." I said, through gritted teeth. Cheers erupted around me as everyone changed the topic from Alucard to the invitation. I massaged my temples, thinking _"If any of the cats were here, they would have saved talking for later, as each feline pondered the impact it would have on their life. Not start chirping like a bunch of baby chicks." _But it would be weeks before they all arrived, as I had sent them through different airlines.

I let them babble as I strode up to the spot where all my possessions were dumped. Techno was there, snoring, with a bottle of ink remover in one hand and washcloth in the other. I took his shoulders and bodily shook him. I was a little harsh on him at times, but he was true to the bone and always backed me up. "Wake up! We got a promo!" he snorted "Huh… wha… oh! Erm, Captain, are you feeling ok?"

I waved the invitation in front of his face. "We got an invitation! Look at it!" He blearily grabbed it and started reading. He put it down after a few moments and looked at me. He looked back down at the paper, and looked at me again. He suddenly smiled, just like Alucard when he found something amusing. He gave me a high five, saying in unison with me "We're going to blow their tiny minds!"

_**Sorry to end there, it was just a good spot for it. The whole invitation thing wasn't as big a deal before I had to do a romance (frowny face). It was actually the reason I had none of the other characters die, because what's an Iscariot without Mr. Anderson? Exactly. Can't be done. I'll do a really big chapter next, I promise. I got it all planned out, and I'm sorry, but I can tell already I'll botch Anderson's accent (Irish or Scottish or what?) so I'll just have him talk normal, more or less. Also, if the doe-eyed ogle thing didn't sound like Alucard, I just couldn't help it. I was in a bad mood and wanted to relieve my feelings by turning his brain to mush. It was fun. Also, Zara is not related to Schrödinger at all, but I based her off him a little. She's **_way_** different. Actually, the only thing I borrowed was the cat form. When she Freaks, just think Schrödinger, only with claws and a much more aggressive personality. Tell me how I'm doing, because I feel like I'm doing the blind-men-elephant thing. Ask your parents, or Google what it means. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Something was off with the chapter just before this. It wouldn't upload. Sorry if you were looking at your screen and yelling "But what's next!?" No one probably was, but I can flatter myself. On we go. Also, Zara isn't telling anyone her name because she's paranoid about Alucard finding out. I mean, it's the only thing she can do to make him mad! Oh, I almost forgot to say this, but my Oc Maniac is a little based off the character from Mania by BrokenDemonessAngel. Sorry if you're mad. Also I'm saying**____**Heinkel is a boy, because I saw the Japanese version of him first and he sounded like a guy. Sorry.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I looked through the "dressy" outfits. Alucard may have seen me in a dress once, but never again. _You know what, screw this._ I walked to the counter where Maniac, Auger and Techno were buying their outfits. "Guys, I'm never going to simply _find_ the right outfit. I'll see you later, because I'm going reckless." They all ohhhed and told me to be careful. I cracked my knuckles.

I needed to look professional, but approachable, and look like I could take care of myself in a fight, but not a brawler. A tough order. I held my head high as I began my quest for The Perfect Outfit. What felt like five hundred years later a ragged scrap of shopped-out humanity dragged itself to a bus. I had a pounding headache, was several dozen dollars lighter, and was weighed down by shopping bags.

I weakly tried to congratulate myself on my good choices, but that seemed like way to much effort. Somehow, by some astronomical effort, I managed to get all the way down the path, open the door, and slouch inside. I staggered over to the shower and turned it on full force. After I felt halfway conscious I slouched over to the bed and was out cold.

I woke up later feeling infinitely better, and ready to get to work. After an hour of trimming, sewing, hammering, gluing, and finger-ouching, Auger showed up and showed me what I was doing wrong. We managed to finish before anyone else got home, and as we were putting everything away, she causally stated "You know, I think you're going to blow his mind." I blinked "Whose?" She grinned at me. "Every male within eyesight. You can have a career in the field of fashion."

I snorted. "I'll pass on that. It is good isn't it?" She laughed out loud. "The only reason I'm not going to steal it is because you would kill me and it wouldn't fit anyway." I instantly assumed an offensive position, brandishing a cardboard tube. "How could you, after all we've been through!" I wailed, chasing her through the house, desperately trying not to laugh.

***Time Skip***

I looked at my face in the mirror and winced. I had no makeup on, and my eyes had dark circles under them. I felt silly, but I could never sleep anywhere very well unless I had one cat to snuggle up to. Like some people had their teddy bears and blankets, I had my cats. After a few years though, I learned not to toss and turn. The cats sometimes used me as a mattress and the position relief was not compensation for all the claw and teeth marks.

But the first cats had still not showed up, thanks to the remoteness of our location. And even when they did, we were going to have to move them to our new location. _If we get one…_ I shook my head. _Think positive, damnit_. _We are going to have happy, paying, enjoyable jobs or else._ I looked myself over. I was wearing a military style black jacket, with a white blouse-thing under it. It was something I made, being much less filmy and light than the others I had seen in the store, and not as fluttery.

After much deliberation, I wore some pants instead of a skirt. They were black too, and had some straps to hold my knives on the outside. I only had two knives on each leg, a medium one on my thigh and a small one on my shin. I had _way_ more knives on my person, but I wasn't going to show them unless I needed to. Speaking of, I was wearing 'spike' heels, although if you looked closely, the spike was the handle of yet another knife.

I rubbed my leg and sighed. The bullet wound from when Alucard had shot me was healed a while ago, but it was still sore. _What if Hellsing really was the best option for us?_ I shuddered. Dealing with _him_ on a daily basis was not an enjoyable thought. I straightened my shoulders and carefully opened the door. My caution was rewarded as a bag of flour fell to the floor. _Techno_.

I surveyed the people that were coming with me. Auger and Maniac had on matching outfits consisting of a t-shirt with swirling lines, blue on Auger and silver on Maniac, and khakis, although Maniac had some flat disks attached to the edge of her pants that I was pretty sure had some kind of explosive power. Not much of one, probably just for demonstration purposes.

Techno was outside, most likely trying not to fry any of the van's electronics. Everyone had agreed that he was going to have to be in the backseat and that he was going to have to wear a rubber jacket. He had gone out on the roof one day and there was a storm and, well, it hadn't ended nicely. He was _still_ twitchy.

I knew that under the jacket he was wearing a tank top with copper wires running all over him, and that he had copper rivets on his pants. Honestly, I had hoped that there wouldn't be any airport scanning stuff, because not only would he fry the system, he would fry every electronic item for a mile.

I was driving, because I had been driving since I was eight, although I hadn't been certified until last month. I glared at Techno in the backseat. "No pranks, nothing, do you hear, until we get back here." One of his eyes was twitching, as he replied "I wouldn't endanger a paying job for the sake of a few moments enjoyment." Maniac giggled "Is that why your eye's twitching?" He carefully folded his arms. "I don't have any metal on my face, so it's kind of hard to control that. I channeled as much as I could into the wires and my muscles are still spastic."

"Not enough to kill anyone I hope?" I said as I buckled myself in. He glared at me, he fingers moving in a jerky rhythm. "It was one small, tiny, barely noticeable lightning bolt. You just have to be careful how you touch me." I adjusted the mirror. "And how you use electronics. Have you looked at your hands?" He looked down at himself in surprise and yelped. I took a deep breath in as we sped along the roads of London, listening to my friends chatting behind me_. I got this, I got this. This will be easy. We'll find a job._

_Alucard's POV:_

The girl and her friends showed up precisely on time, alongside the despicable Iscariot. I felt a moment of concern, thinking that they might already have chosen some other organization, but relaxed when they showed no sign of knowing each other. I felt a breath catch in my throat as I saw the girl chatting with her friends. _She looks so happy… she really does belong with them._

Police girl, standing beside me, looked up at me in concern "Are you alright Master? You have the strangest expression on your face." I frowned and cleared my throat. "Just that Anderson is here already." She patted my arm carefully. "Just think, after this is all over you can go back to shooting at each other. Just one day. How hard can it be?"

I saw Anderson and gritted my teeth. He was talking to the girl, and she was laughing. _How hard could it be? Very, very hard._ She was saying something to him now, and was walking away, waving, with a smile on her face. Her friends all stared up at the Hellsing Manor in the same way the girl had the first time she came. She elbowed two of them in the guts. I could hear her faintly now, shouting "Stop staring and get it in gear! We have an impression to make!" I grinned. _Same old, same old_.

_Zara's POV:_

As I got out of the car a man in a priest's uniform came over to us. "Well, now, I dinnae know we were accepting children into our ranks." I laughed at him. "And I didn't know it was a policy to insult each other. You're… Father Anderson then?" He raised his eyebrows "How'd ye know I twas him?" I laughed again "I'd be a poor mercenary if I didn't know who'd be hiring at an occultist get-together. We freaks have to know who to watch out for."

I walked away, waving at him, smiling to myself. _It was worth having Auger do a profile check on everyone in attendance; it's going to be much easier that way. _As I caught up to Maniac and Auger, I saw them staring at the manor with slack jaws. I nudged both of them sharply. "Stop staring and get it in gear! We have an impression to make!"

They both straightened a sheepish expression on both of their faces. "Sorry Cap, but it's just so _big_." I laughed at them. "If we're lucky, in a few weeks this sort of thing will seem normal. Where's Techno?" Maniac pointed at him. "He's over there, talking to that freakishly huge vampire that fought you a couple weeks ago."

"I did not fight him, he chased me and shot me, and then I talked to him and he left. There is a supreme difference. Alucard would be able to smash me with a thought, if it actually came to a true and proper fight, Freak mode or not." Maniac hit my with a sly glance. "So you're on first name terms with him now?" I snorted. "As if, I haven't even told him my name yet. And if Techno wants to live past sundown, he won't either."

They both laughed. The constant case of me vs. Techno was a source of amusement to my close friends, because we all knew that neither of us meant what we said to each other. We arrived at the doors to the manor, where Techno was indeed talking to Alucard. I mentally berated Seras for letting them see each other. _Now I've just unleashed two kindred souls of ticking off on the hapless inhabitants of earth. Everyone, please forgive me for this._

"And not only do flour and egg whites work well together, but if you mix red food coloring in before hand, it looks like they're a _bloody_ ghost." Techno was saying to him, casually leaning against the door. Alucard titled his head, looking thoughtful for once. "I usually don't bother with using fake blood, when the real stuff works as well."

Techno folded his arms "Yes, but when they report to an authority figure _my_ way; you can say it was a cooking accident. Can't do that with real blood. So there." I rolled my eyes. It took them less than five minutes together before they started hatching plans. Alucard countered "But they panic so much more when they see that it's the real thing."

Before I could do anything, Auger cleared her throat. Alucard and Techno turned towards us, both looking annoyed. "I believe there are things to do, not involving talking about the pranks you will pull on other people, which I _especially forbade_ you from doing before we left home." I said, folding my arms and glaring at Techno.

He put his hands on his hips. "I am saving up for later, and you didn't forbid Alucard from doing anything." I turned towards him "I have no jurisdiction over you, but_ I will make you regret it_ if you prank me." Alucard shrugged playfully. "I promise, no pranks will be intended for you." I shook my head. "Oh no you don't, I know him," I said, pointing to Techno. "and I know how that will turn out. No pranks that weren't intended for me but _"accidently"_ happened to me anyway either."

His face fell, and Techno patted him on the shoulder. "She's got our number." He turned and phased through the wall. I glanced irritably at Seras. "Does he always wear that red thing, or is it just special occasions?" She shrugged. "I've only seen him without it a couple times, but at least he doesn't have the hat. I sighed "True. Isn't he a bit worried not having his glasses? There are a whole mess of vampire hunters coming here." Seras shrugged "They all know he serves Sir Integra. So, no, not really."

She turned and walked inside. We all followed her, quietly discussing our impressions of people so far. When we came to the chandelier room, we were given a security check, and it was just questions and same-sex people did a body check. I felt sorry for the poor guy searching Techno, because he kept getting small shocks from both Techno and his wires. After that, we got a map, and agreed to meet back there in one hour.

_***Time Skip***_

I, having the absolute _best_ serendipity gifted to man or beast, found the room where they were having the small fights described in the letter almost immediately. I groaned. If I turned and fled now, it might give them a bad impression. I squared my shoulders and strode in. It didn't even take me ten strides before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Gotten lost girl? The playpen's on the other side of the building." I turned and glared at the speaker. It was another man, clearly a mercenary, with a sneer on his face as he stared me down. "Actually, I'm looking for where they hire on the fighters, but that's not here, is it?" I said coolly. The man's sneer grew. "Why? _You're_ not a fighter" he put emphasis on the _you're_, implying that he was.

I opened my mouth and a typical teenager reply came out "Well, neither are you, if you spend your spare time trying to intimidate other people." He clenched his fists and spat "If you're so clever, then I challenge you." I cocked my head, listening to the pitying murmurs running through the room. "I accept."

_Alucard's POV:_

I had followed the girl, purely out of boredom. She came to the room where the mercenaries were testing each other, and I grinned. Given her spirit, this was going to be very interesting indeed. She walked in, but was confronted by another, older man. After a short argument, he challenged her. I heard the shocked whispers resound through the room, as most people thought she was just an ignorant teen.

They walked towards an open circle, were a referee was standing. "You have as long as is necessary to subdue your opponent. There are no holds barred, although lethal force is forbidden. You may begin." He bowed to them both at walked till he was on the outside of the circle. A tiny dinging sound was heard, and the man immediately drew a knife on her.

She slowly reached for the knife on her upper leg, and the man, mistaking caution for inexperience, lunged forward. She quickly drew her knife, dodging the man's attack, but not following up on the opening presented fast enough, and he lunged again. This time she was not fast enough, and he pierced the her shoulder.

She hissed in pain, switching the knife from her now useless right arm to her left. I blinked, trying to suppress the overwhelming urge to attack the source of her sweet blood, a mixture of herbs and lemon. She backed away from him, and I felt her mental barriers corrode slightly. I gently pushed at her mind, trying to read her intentions.

_Ok idiot,_ I heard. _You've wounded the stupid teen. Go on, finish her. She weak, and slow, and probably can't even use that knife right. Come ON. _I raised my eyebrows. Perhaps she was in control here, instead of the man. I felt disgust leak from her as the man showed no sign of attacking. _Alright, you need a spur before you attack. I understand, you pathetic whiner._

She whimpered, so quietly that I could barely hear it, and no one outside the circle would, but the man certainly heard her. He darted in, triumph showing in his eyes. She kneeled, sweeping one leg under him so that he crashed to the ground, and in an extension of the same movement flicked her knife so that it buried itself in the wood next to his face.

"I could put that in your eye, but the ref said no fatalities." She said calmly, and coolly, her voice echoing through the still room. She offered him her hand to get back up, but he pushed it aside. Shrugging her shoulders she backed off to let him get up, and then retrieved her knife without comment. Clapping started to echo through the room, as one person after another realized the fight was over.

The girl acknowledged them with a slight bow, and left the room. I followed her like a shadow, drifting silently behind. After she had gone far enough, she ducked into a secluded hallway and clutched her shoulder. I phased so that I was right in front of her and said quietly "Nice job." She almost cracked her neck; she whipped her head up so fast. "Are you stalking me or something?!" she whispered.

I smirked "Depends on your point of view. I was following you because I was bored, and you are the most interesting person I could find. Does that count?" She sighed. "Yes, it does. Do you want something, or can you go back to following me so I don't notice?" I let my gaze fall down to the wound in her shoulder.

She followed the path my eyes took, and when she saw what I was looking at, immediately snapped "NO. If you want to hire me, then that is definitely NOT something to do." I let my eyes fill with pleading "Please? Just a tiny taste?" She shook her head. "Nope. Where's the medic's?" I folded my arms. "I'm not telling unless I get to taste it." She sighed and hung her head. I had to strain my ears to hear her reply. "One. Just one, _tiny_ taste." I grinned widely. She irritably unbuttoned her jacket and yanked her blouse so it showed her bare shoulder.

_Zara's POV:_

I yanked my blouse to one side, trying to ignore the voice in my head berating me for doing such a thing. _Vampire saliva heals._ I thought as I watched Alucard stare at my shoulder with hungry eyes. _No matter how much the thought personally repulses me, I can't bleed out, not today of all days. I _need_ him to do this. It could be worse. Concentrate on that._

He bent down, the look in his eyes giving me the shivers. Suddenly, he crushed me to him in what could be roughly described as an embrace, and fastened his mouth on the knife wound. I shuddered, desperately trying not to struggle as I repeated over and over in my head _It could be worse, it could be worse, it could be worse, it could be worse, I don't know how but it could be worse!_

He started sucking on my shoulder, gently lapping his tongue against my skin. I put all my focus on my mental barrier, knowing he was getting a much clearer view of my mind than normal, and felt rewarded when I detected no probing. After about a minute he moaned into me, and I realized that he had gotten his taste, and I should be trying to get him off.

I wiggled in his grasp, causing him to clutch me tighter. I bit my lip, trying to think of a way to dislodge him. _Oh, hang on._ I took a slow breath, already feeling guilty. I broke down all my little mental walls and _screamed_ at him, imagining all the loudest, most startling noises I had ever heard. He jerked back, dislodging his mouth, although he still held me at an uncomfortably intimate distance.

He looked down at me, and said slowly "I'm sorry, but sometimes my hunger gets the best of me. This, or anything like it, will not happen again." I shrugged. "It's alright, I know how the baser parts of people can sometimes… come out" I felt a flash of memory and pushed it back, re-constructing all my walls.

No way was he going to get info on _that_ part of me, if I had anything to do with it. He seemed to realize he was still holding me and backed away, murmuring more apologies. Suddenly, he grinned at me. "What's so funny?" I asked. "I know your name now, _Zara_. He pulled out a map and pointed to a spot on it. "That's the medical ward, and your right here." He gave me the map, inclined his head, and phased away.

_**This was shorter than I wanted, because I came up with a brilliant plot twist about halfway into it. All hell's going to break loose next chapter, because I finally found some bad guys! Next chapter is going to be much longer than this hopefully, but no promises. The bad guys are going to be a little… oh, I forgot the world for it, but you're going to raise your eyebrows when I explain them. I'll give you a hint. That creepy Nazi Doc guy, you know him? He probably had DNA samples of him and the others, and technology has been advancing… (evil grin)**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**(Happy giggle) this chapter's going to be awesome! There's explosions and everything! Heeheeheeheeheehee! (Runs around in a circle) Please review, I feel like I'm just talking to myself. I do sometimes, but this time there are people listening! Right? Hellllllooooo? Also, I did not make up the name of the gas; it's what the Nazi's used in the gas chambers. Millennium **_was _**from the Nazi organization. **_

_Zara's POV:_

After a lot of wandering, I finally managed to get to the medic, and they fixed my shoulder up _properly_. After I left, I happened to glance at the clock on the wall. "Eek!" I jumped like I had been shot. I streaked down the hall, wishing for once I could access my freak side by myself. _If I could do that, I'd be there in about a second, walls or no._ I skidded to a stop, wheezing.

_Now, which way?_ I looked left and right. I cautiously inhaled through my nose, smelling a large group of people to my right. I sped off in that direction, trying to think of a plausible excuse for being late. Luck was on my side for once in this miserable day, and I found the entrance hall just as everyone else showed up.

_Ok, be cool and calm. You are a professional, whatever these people might think._ I smoothed my hair back, silently thanking the fact that my wound hadn't been given time to bleed through anything but the blouse. "Hey guys, any luck?" I called, seeing them all looking very excited. Auger spotted me and squealed "We got an offer! That guy from Iscariot talking to you earlier? He said saw Maniac giving a demonstration, and offered all of us a job at the Vatican!"

She took a deep breath. "We said we'd think about it, so we're still open you know." I blinked. "Oh, erm, Hellsing made us an offer too you know?" She shrugged. "We'll have to call a vote then, because according to my research, they're pretty much the same when it comes to paying, and treatment and such." I started to panic inside. _It will come down to me, as the leader, I will have to make the final decision, even if the vote is clear. I can't make that choice! _

To distract myself, I looked around the room. I noticed something. I silently motioned for her to go get the others, as I looked around the room again to double check. No doubt about it, I was right. They gathered around me, casually leaning against the wall to make us seem normal. I lowered my voice anyway, so they had to lean in to hear me. "All of the higher ups have gone. Their bodyguards are gone too, and they're left quietly enough that no one has noticed yet. Something's up."

_3__rd__ person POV:_

Zara was right. Something was wrong, although none of the leaders had noticed it yet. Their meeting was for a different reason, namely some paper-shuffling nonsense, politics and treaties and such. It was in a soundproof room though, for security reasons, and that was exactly what the attackers were waiting for.

_Zara's POV: _

Gunfire suddenly burst throughout the room, cutting down people. We were all hidden behind a large pillar, more or less, so we escaped injury and notice. We immediately crouched down, hiding our presence. The vents suddenly hissed, and a blueish mist billowed out. "Auger?" I asked nervously. "I think it's a gas called Zyklon-B. It paralyzes the respiration of every cell in the body. Oxygen can no longer be transported from the blood through the cell walls into the cells. As the vital cell functions are starved of oxygen, the target suffocates." She said calmly.

Techno coughed nervously. "How do we avoid being suffocated? And why did whoever is doing this let it out when their soldiers were nearby?" Auger pulled the cloth of her shirt over her nose. "Through inhalation, and if you are exposed for an extended length of time, your skin." We all pulled our clothing so it formed a filter. I pointed towards some movement in the fog of the gas.

"I think that's because they're ghouls." The zombie-like creatures shuffled towards us, guns randomly blazing. Maniac grabbed some of the disks she carried. "Is this stuff flammable?" Auger shrugged. "Depends on how much they dumped on us." Maniac stood up. "I'll risk it." She sent a disk flying towards the ghouls. As it reached the apex of its arch, right above the front line of ghouls, she pointed to it. It exploded violently, in midair, decimating them.

The gas around them flared with heat, little sparks snapping through the air. A plan reared up in my head. "If one disk makes it do that, what will happen when we throw all of them? And look at the gas around there. It's thinning out." We all stared at that patch of air. Techno patted my back. "You. Are. A freaking. _Genius_!" he shouted.

I grinned at him. "I knew that. Alright, here's the plan." I pointed at Techno. "You fry as many of them as you can, make their bullets explode in their guns, I don't care. Make 'em spark." I pointed to Maniac. "You wait until he can't lift a finger, and then set off as many of those little disk-bombs as you can at the same time." I pointed to Auger. "You and I are going to hot-wire a phone or something so we can get through to reinforcements." I stood up, gesturing to all of them. "Conserve as much oxygen as you can. Limit your movements, using as little of it as possible. Let's do this."

Techno shrugged off his jacket. Copper wires writhed off his shirt, sparking and snapping. He made a throwing motion and I saw some more ghouls blaze out of existence. He made another motion, and I saw lights spark in the distance. Auger tapped my shoulder, holding up a walkie-talkie. We bent over it, desperately trying to get a signal.

_Integra's POV: _

We were just finishing off when I heard a buzzing coming from the walkie-talkie at my hip. I ignored it, focusing on Maxwell's plea for more ground in the U.K. It buzzed again, and I heard a voice say faintly "If we don't get this to work, we're going to die! Try moving that red wire." It buzzed quieter for a moment, then let out a metallic shriek. Everyone stopped talking and stared at me.

I took the walkie-talkie out and clicked a button. "I don't know who you are, but I'm in the middle of a very important meeting. You can call later. Over." A voice in the background said sheepishly. "Oh, sorry to interrupt, it's just, we're kinda in over our heads, what with the ghouls, and the poisonous gas, and the… WATCH OUT YOU IDIOT! YOU ALMOST HIT THE LIFELINE!" everyone was staring at the radio device in horror. The voice continued. "Sorry to call and run, but my friend needs help. Also, when we're dead can you-" the line clicked off.

Maxwell swiveled in his chair. "Get the live video feed!" I gritted my teeth. It was _my_ organization, so I was to be the one giving orders. The security camera showed a room filled with bluish gas, and a teen swaying on his feet, with wires stretching away from him into the mist. _That looks like… _"Walter!" Seras exclaimed joyfully. Alucard shook his head. "That's not Walter." He was proved correct as I saw some ghouls stumble into the wires. Instantly the boy made a gesture with one hand, and the wires jerked to life, electrocuting the ghouls in a flash of sparks.

The boy stumbled and almost fell, catching himself at the last moment. He stumbled again, and was caught by that one cat-girl who had argued with me the other day. I could barely hear her yelling "He's spent, Maniac, do it _now_!" She quickly dragged the boy to an alcove, as another girl stepped out into his spot. She flicked several disk things at the ghouls, not pausing when they missed and clattered to the ground. She made a gesture and jumped back into the alcove as we saw a burst of fire and the camera went dead.

_Zara's POV:_

Techno staged again, and I darted forward to catch him. I dragged him back, yelling "He's spent, Maniac, do it _now_!" She stepped forward, flicking as many of the disks as she could at the ghouls. She activated them and jumped back, shielding us all with her body as the gas around us combusted. The flames crisped her body, and she shuddered. I knew her resistance to flames was high, much higher than that of an ordinary person, but everyone has their limits.

I silently begged whatever higher power that was in a good mood that we hadn't found hers as the flames around us roared. The light was intense, and I closed my eyes. I gasped for air, as the gas burned, the smoke added to the already clogged air. I could feel my nails and teeth lengthening, but even my freak mode would do us no good in this situation. I coughed, trying to grab air into my polluted lungs, but felt unconsciousness slipping into my mind. My last coherent thought was that the cats would never forgive me for leaving them without as much as a goodbye.

_Alucard's POV:_

After the video ended, all the council members sat in stunned silence. The floor rumbled under our feet, but no one paid any attention. Integra turned to me. "Go down there, and eliminate any remaining ghouls. That's an order. If anyone is alive, bring them to the infirmary." She said, clenching her cigar in her teeth. Maxwell protested. "They are our possible employees and it is our duty to see them-"

Integra cut him off. "They are in my hallways, and they shall be taken care of until they decide to join you. They are our possible employees as well. Police Girl and I bowed, and phased back to the entrance hallway. As we got there, Police Girl let out a shocked gasp. It looked like hell.

Bits of masonry were scattered across the floor, burning. Human bodies were burning too, and a gas that still wreathed the room in sullen swaths. I sniffed the air once, and smelled pumping blood. What looked like a heap of bodies in an alcove next to us was actually alive, albeit barely so. A girl was sprawled across three more bodies, all of them looking exhausted. I picked up the girl and the boy, and gave them to Police Girl. "Take them to the infirmary, I have the other two." She phased away as I heard a coughing, hacking sound.

Zara opened one eye, looking at me with amusement. "Well, if you're here than I'm either in the deepest, darkest pits of hell, or still alive." I picked her and the other girl up. "Is there a difference?" She hacked again, which I interpreted as a laugh. "I'm alive, apparently. Only you would put it so carefully, or so gently. Are my friends alive too?" I shifted her on my shoulder so she could see the other girl. "They are all in about the same condition."

"Joy." I looked down at her. "Are you always this sarcastic?" She hacked. "Only when I can't think from all the various pains coursing through me body. So, now really and when you shot me, and this one time I fell off a moving truck." I felt her body slump as her consciousness fled, and she started rambling. "And this one time I was caught in freak mode and-" her speech slurred and she finally slept.

_Zara's POV:_

I was dreaming. I was dimly aware of that, because I remembered Alucard picking us up and carrying us somewhere. I paced in front of an invisible barrier, snarling. _Kill! Maim! Destroy the blood-drinking leeches! Rip them to bloody shreds and devour the bones! _Seras cowered against the wall across from me, whimpering in incoherent fear. I lunged at the invisible barrier, snarling as it stung my clawed hands. I dimly heard the despicable Major's voice from far away, saying "Incredible. The

Fraulien appears to have bound the creature herself, although it will be no challenge."

I snarled silently in my head, screeching _Get out! The Hellsings killed your pathetic body!_ The Doc's voice answered him in a cold tone "Her parents could have done a better job of unleashing it. We should not have killed them." The part of me that was still capable of coherent thought hissed in fear. _You're dead! _It wailed. _You're all dead!_ _You can't do this to me anymore! _Doc's voice continued. "It appears to have been bound to her in a fairly simple manner, and can be released, given the proper stimuli."

My inner mind wailed. _No not that! Anything but that, please! It hurts! It hurts so much!_ The scene changed, and my 7-year old self was cowering on the floor, as far away from the Major and his cronies as possible. The Major clicked his fingers, and they all stood back as a hoard of ghouls surged towards me. The little girl cried out in pain, stiffening. She collapsed on the floor, blood pouring from her mouth, urging the ghouls on.

The little girl and my freak self cried out, the girl in pain and the freak in joy, as the barrier separating it from Seras vanished and the girl's eye flicked from normal human ones to slitted cat pupils. She and the freak roared in unison, as the girl's teeth lengthened into fangs and she charged the ghouls, and the freak hurled towards Seras. Blood split the night sky as Seras and the ghouls died to my/her/our fangs and claws. As the bloodlust died and our thoughts calmed, I clenched my teeth and put a hand to my heart, forcing the creature inside of me back.

"Amazing. She ist able to drive it back through sheer force of will. But it will not stay away will it? Always is that urge in the back of your head. Always that urge to attack, to spill the blood of humans and vampires alike, isn't there?" It was both of us that answered him this time. _Shut up freak!_ The part of me that was me said _And I'm just as human as the next person! It's her fault, it's all her fault!_ It sobbed tears running down my cheeks. The part of me that was _her_ spat _I am bound to protect the bloodline of the family. _You_ dragged me out of every mind and body of the clan, excepting _her_. _It gestured to me. _And expected me to fight and kill. In your greed for a weapon you tore a family spirit from its family. You will pay! You will all die!_

She left me, and I collapsed. It always hurt, when she manifested so plainly. I hissed a little, remembering that agonizing pain as she literally ripped through my body, changing human to cat in her need for a proper form. Changing _everything_, blood, bones, muscle, all of it. She was never gentle, but I understood that. She was our clan spirit, and she was a tiny part in all of us, that is, until by some devious means, the Major managed to confine her in my body.

The forced captivity to a spirit that was almost never even in a single form had seriously impacted her mental state. She was half crazed, always trying to destroy something, even when it wasn't a threat to me. Dennis had explained to me once, that the binding put on her was very loose in terms of protocol. In other words, if I was in a serious jam, and she wanted to come out, she was going to come out, whether I wanted her to or not. I felt sorry for her, because she could never get back to her original state, without killing me, which she was obviously forbidden to do. _I'm so sorry. _ I repeated over and over in my head as tears streamed down my cheeks. _I'm so, so sorry. Tetsab, I'm so sorry._

_**Ohhh, a snippet of Zara's past. This was awesome to create, because there were explosions! Sorry I haven't explained Doc and the others yet, but I only have so many days of spring break. I'm trying, I really am. For those of you wondering about Dennis, you'll have to wait on that too. It's a narrative momentum thing. Also, if you're wondering about the demon thing's name, just do what you do to figure out Alucard's real name. Corny aren't I? It was the only cat thing I could find that would make any sense. Bye, and please tell me how I'm doing.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**This chapter is just going to be a bunch of fill-in funny stuff I thought up. I was reading another fanfic and so wanted to do my own take on the concept. Thank you **__**xVentressx for my first review ever! You are awesome! I am **__motivated__** now! Sorry about the longer wait for this, but schools in and I had to go to my grandma's for Easter. I'm trying!**_

_Zara's POV_

After the nightmare I had slowly drifted into a blissful unconsciousness. An annoyed beeping sifted through my mind. _Shut up._ It persisted, louder. _I'm trying to sleep._ I opened my eyes slowly. I was on a hospital bed, with a cord connecting my arm to a machine making that evil bleeping sound. I groaned softly.

A rat was skittering by the wall. _Excuse me, but can you take out the plastic tail thing please? _It looked me over, startled, but complied and went over to where the machine was plugged in. I drifted back into sleep as the machine gave a few more pings and stuttered into silence. _Peace at last._

_Alucard's POV:_

The Police Girl and I were leaning against the wall, listening to his diagnosis, when I heard the machine tracking Zara's heartbeats starting to stutter. I held up my hands for silence as we both listened. It slowly faded, and then stopped. Police Girl looked heartbroken, and the doctor looked confused. "Please check on your patients, I think one is dying." I explained through gritted teeth.

The idiot gasped, and bolted back into the room. We followed, to see Zara lying on the bed with her eyes closed, the IV line still in her arm. Police Girl gasped, and then began to cry loudly. I hissed through my teeth and turned away. I had brought this girl to be hired, and she had come without a word of complaint, and she had died.

I heard an impact behind me, and the doctor flew back, clutching his nose. Police Girl sniffled and turned around. I did not bother to turn, lost in my thoughts, but a voice drove them all from my head. "I don't care if the Queen herself had died, but _you are disturbing my nap_. Stop crying Seras, or I'll hit you too." I whipped around, and there she was, sitting up, and looking blearily at me.

I felt my heart give a slow thump in my chest as she glared at me. Some things never change. "Make them go away, knock me out, or something, I just want to go back to sleep." She said wearily. I looked at the doctor. He nodded slowly and walked over to a self full of pills. He got the necessary ones, and a glass of water.

He held them out to her with trembling hands. She snatched them from him and swallowed the pills, then slowly gulped down the water. "G'night, morning, whatever." She yawned and stretched. She snuggled down into the covers, and within seconds was fast asleep.

The doctor seemed much more comfortable with her once she was knocked out, and took her pulse. "I just don't understand it." He muttered, looking at the machine. "Her pulse is steady and normal, or as much as can be said for someone who had the ordeal she did. Our machines are top quality. Why did it stop like that?"

I bent down, inspecting it. "But it needs to be plugged in, doesn't it?" I said dryly, holding up the cord. He looked at it, startled. "She is in no condition to be doing stunts like that." He murmured, looking at her sleeping form. I shrugged carelessly. "She's very stubborn. I shot her in the leg once, and she almost didn't react, she was so focused on escaping me." The doctor looked at her curiously. "That may be it."

_3__rd__ Person POV: _

After a few months, or very boring years, depending on the point of view, the four patients were released. They hired on at Hellsing, to some people's surprise. As Zara put it, "We destroyed their nice rooms, and wasted their medicine and bed space. The least we can do would be to fight for them."

The vote at Halloween Division's house was a dead tie, so it really did come down to Zara in the end. Their contract was surprisingly short, consisting of a few sentences. It read "I, Sir Hellsing, do solemnly swear to give the people of Halloween Division a home, food, wages as I see fit, and medical care for the duration of this contract. I extend to them my protection and hospitality."

"We, the Halloween Division, do solemnly swear to defend the home and life of Sir Hellsing and comrades. As of the signing of this contract, we acknowledge her leadership and authority to extend all but Captain Zara's, and will avenge her death despite all odds if necessary." That was all. Four sentences.

Despite this, when the Halloween Division moved in, there was some friction between them and the Wild Geese. It was some natural rivalry, as well as the Geese viewing the Halloween Division, or just H.D., as incompetent children. This was a very private feud, one Sir Integra was not aware of, nor her butler, Roger. This took some doing on both sides, mainly because it seemed like Roger was _everywhere_.

If Roger noticed anything about the increased number of messes since the H.D. moved in, he just brushed it off, or so it seemed to the feuders. They acted normally in the field, and made sure _none_ of the "casualties", were actually casualties. That is until…

_Pip's POV: _

As we gathered in the Geese's locker room, I couldn't shake off a feeling of foreboding. Both groups had their own locker room, because there was a number of female H.D.s and they did not take kindly to peeping toms. My second in command leaning down to spread out a battle plan. One of the new recruits opened his locker, and a can of gas fell out.

We all jumped away with shouts, as a mysterious white mist rose from the can. Some of the men started pounding on the door, and we heard muffled giggles coming from the other side. Some of the men began to giggle too. I looked at them, one eye twitching. This was no time for…for…

I started to laugh a little too, then uncontrollably. It was all so _funny_. The way the as yet unchanged men were looking at us with horror-struck expressions. The way the people on the other side of the door were still there, breathing through some kind of mask with really big goggly eyes. I was _howling_ with laughter.

_Integra's POV:_

I was just finishing with paperwork when Captain Pip barged in, holding Zara by her neck. "This! Heeheehee… girl, she, heeheehee, she, heeheehee, SHE PUT LAUGHING GAS IN OUR LOCKER ROOM! Heeheehee." I looked at her sternly. "Is this true?" She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, but Techno helped." I folded my arms, shaking my head disappointedly. She noticed the look and hurried to add "But it was payback for the time when they…" she quickly put her hands over her mouth.

I narrowed my eyes. "For when they what?" She patted the Captain on the back, although he didn't notice because he was still trying to stop giggling. "Sorry about tattling. For the time when they turned all the water pipes so that they blasted cold water on us when almost all of us were in the shower."

The captain glared at her. "You little, heehee, you little snitch. That was payback for the time when you turned our heehee, our target range into a heehee, a trap-door maze." She grinned at him. "And it was how many hours before the survivors heard you yelling?" He glared at her. "Three _hours_. Heeheehee." I sat there, stunned. "How long has it been since this, this _feud_ started?" they both shrugged. "When the others got here, more or less." Zara said, still hanging from the Captain's grasp.

I straightened. "Zara, as captain of the Halloween Division, it is your responsibility to keep you men in check. Pip, that is your job as well. You two will settle on a contest, and after that contest _you will not_ resume hostilities. You will be _friends_ and _allies_. That is _all_."

_Zara's POV:_

After Integra chewed us out, me and Pip stood in front of our bisecting hallways. I stuck out my hand. "As captain of the Halloween Division, I challenge you to have a drinking contest. Whoever passes out, can't drink the shot glass, or regurgitates first loses. A neutral party will serve the drinks." He looked at me, startled. He then grinned, and shook my hand. "As captain of the Wild Geese, I accept.

After that we parted ways, and I burst into the H.D's common room. The others looked up from their various plots and plans, eager to hear my next brilliant ploy. I announced slowly and solemnly, "We or rather, I am challenging the leader of the Geese to a drinking contest. The winner gets bragging rights, and then we shall be friends. No more pranks."

There was some muttering, mainly from the ones who loved pranking the Geese, but they all accepted my proposal. We would be nice to the Geese from now on, although some people immediately took some bets on who would pass out first. I stood there, a slow grin on my face as I contemplated what Alucard would do when he heard about this. By a miracle of luck, he had been criss-crossing Europe in his vampire hunts, and had not been home long enough to notice the feud. His reaction would be _awesome_ to watch.

_Alucard's POV:_

I nearly fell out of my chair in shock when I heard what they would be doing; only I never did something so undignified. _That Frenchman is bad enough when sober, but drunk, and drunk trying to win a contest, that's like a match in a firework factory._ Police Girl stood in front of me, wringing her hands. "…and so I have to give them the drinks, and judge, since they'll probably be too drunk to keep count. I think it might actually be a bit fun."

I kept my face impassive as I replied. "What feuding mercenaries do is of no concern to me." _And as long as that Bernadette keeps his…his Frenchness to himself, I don't care what he and that girl do. He's bad enough around my fledgling. Always making cow eyes at her._ Maybe I could watch. It wouldn't be that weird. I was just watching them make fools of themselves.

_**Dun dun, dadum. What will happen next? Will Zara lose, or will she drink Pip under the table? I wanted to publish this to keep you guys off my back as I make the next chapter, so sorry if it's a bit short. Also, if I offended any French people with Alucard's remark, I'm sorry. Pip is very French in that flirting aspect, as you can see in the anime or manga. No reference to any real French people at all. Also, xVentressx, I'm working on a Romanian aspect now, I just have to finish it off. The story can't just aimlessly wander all over the place now, can it? I need at least **__some__** of it to make sense. **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Okay, I got this. Huff, puff, huff puff. Charging writer's mojo. Preparing to try and write more. Let's do this! I even got my lucky blanket on! (Brrr, its cold by the computer) Please review, even if it's to say I suck. I need input! I can't output without it! I might give up! I might get depression! I might die and it will be your entire fault for not telling me I suck. So be warned all ye readers, tell me I suck. (In case you're wondering, Yes I am being treated for a mental disease, it's just not a very bad one. It's not even very noticeable for everyday stuff. But it's a fun one! Pretty butterfly… :)**_

_Zara's POV:_

The curtain was up, the players ready. I was going to smash Captain Bernadette into the ground, although I probably could just nudge him and let gravity do the rest when we were done. I had an unfair advantage over him, but since he was a hardened mercenary drunk, it might not turn out to be much of one.

We sat down at the table, glaring at each other across its length. Seras placed a tray seven shot glasses in front of both of us, and we started drinking. I immediately thought of sparrows, quick, flighty birds that could hold a surprising amount of alcohol. I downed all seven, with no effects on my human self, although the sparrow swayed inside me a little. Two trays later, I had to let go of the bird or it would be knocked out. I thought of robins.

I could only hold a tray and a half before it started to waver inside me. I called another robin (I had two, for reasons unknown to me) and managed two trays on robins. Captain Pip looked none the worse for wear, but, neither did I. Bets changed as some of Pip's own men looked at me nervously. Ten trays, several dozen songbirds, and a falcon later he looked tipsy, and for the sake of appearances I had to take the next tray myself.

Both of us looked equally drunk after that tray, although I was technically cheating and only had a fraction of the alcohol inside of me that he did. I would be paying for it later, as I would have to let each and every one of those forms inside me out for them to stop feeling effects. I hesitantly called on Squeaker. A rat inside of me uncoiled, waiting for orders. Nine trays later, poor Squeaker was _very_ drunk, and I decided to let him rest before he killed himself.

Twenty tray mark, 140 shot glasses each. Pip was singing at the end of the table, and I was grinning stupidly. Everyone looked on in awe, as we had passed anyone's expectations. I had watched him closely throughout our little match, and he should be beatable, as the alcohol's effects would be hitting him about…_now_. We both accepted new trays from Seras, Pip with trembling hands.

I took a deep breath and drank them all. I turned the glasses upside down, to show they were empty, and looked at him. He had finished at the same time I had, and was looking at the next tray with apprehension. I saw him finish the first two shot glasses slowly, and quickly drained two of my own. He looked at the next glass. He grabbed at it, fingers fumbling. The whispers that echoed throughout the room hushed as he brought it to his lips.

He slowly put his mouth on it… and collapsed. Everyone in the room turned to me, with huge eyes. I smiled like that cat that got the cream, slowly brought it to my lips, drank, and toasted them with the empty glass. I looked down at the tray, shrugged, and chugged another one down before getting up. I staggered a bit, and then righted myself. I bowed to all and sundry, a low bow that most drunks would never have managed. I stood up, and walked to my room.

The corridor it was on was deserted, so I thought it was safe to stagger a little. I stumbled, the effects of the liquor hitting me hard, and almost fell. Almost, because there was a pair of very familiar hands with red pentagrams on the back of them caught me. They pulled me upright, and I heard Alucard's voice say "How many drinks did you down? You're _very_ drunk." I tried to think through the warm fog of alcohol, and remembered. "Ask the others, because I really don't want to be counting right now."

He chuckled, and I realized I was pretty much in an embrace with him, although he was the only thing keeping me upright. "They're saying you drank Captain Pip under the table, and beat him 150 to 148 shot glasses. I must say, if I could consume alcohol, I probably couldn't beat you." I looked up at him blearily. He was grinning that grin of his, looking down at me. "I need to get to bed." I slurred, trying to maintain consciousness. "Hangover. Bed help. Sleep help."

He looked me over, and I was forced to throttled fighting-drunk anger. "You aren't able to stand, let along walk. I'll carry you." He swept me up in his arms without further ado, me mumbling protests the whole way. He stopped right in front of my door, opening it and going in as I mumbled to him "Stalker much?" He laughed out loud, and I could feel my body move with him, I was pressed so close.

He plopped me on my bed, and I felt a surge of cats as they settled in their usual positions, some using me as a mattress, others a pillow, and still others a wall to press against. I stroked them with distant hands, already drifting off into a sleepy haze as Alucard phased through my door. I slept, not noticing that a figure perched on my windowsill, thinking to itself. _I found you, and you can't run from your fate anymore. You're trapped between a rock and a hard place._

***Time Skip***

I woke up in the morning, noticing a warm spot on my stomach that wasn't there when I went to sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the whiskers on my face and the fluffy tail that curled around my ribs. I stared into milky white eyes, and whimpered. _This is too cruel, even in a dream. You're DEAD._ The eyes blinked slowly at me, and I heard a voice in my head. _So is that walking corpse in a red cape that's stalking you. Stop stating the obvious. It's unbecoming for a lady of quality like yourself._ I hugged the apparition before me, tears sliding down its fur. _Dennis, I missed you._

_Alucard's POV:_

I asked Zara's brother about Dennis, because I had been wondering about him for a while. He looked at me, and answered "A very dear friend to both us, but especially my sister. They even slept together." I felt rage and shock echo through me, although I didn't know why. "Why?" I asked roughly. He shrugged. "Because they were close. They were inseparable, and I never saw one without the other."

I heard a voice call on his walkie-talkie. "Hello?" he said, turning away from me. He had to hold it away from him as I heard Zara shriek on the other end "GUESS WHO'S BACK? IT'S DENNIS! CALL SIR HELLSING AND EVERYONE TOGETHER, AND I'LL INTODUCE THEM. BYE!" I scowled. _This Dennis might be fun to intimidate_, I thought as Zan told me to come to Sir Hellsing's office, and bring Seras. I nodded, and phased off to find Police Girl.

_***Another Time Skip***_

As I sat in a chair, scowling, Zara burst through the door, with a elegantly-long haired grey cat on her shoulder. "Hey, Sir Hellsing, sorry to call this in the middle of the work day and all, but I wanted to introduce someone very special to you all." She said, letting the cat down on the table. "This is Dennis, my oldest and dearest friend, who taught me everything I know about killing vampires." The cat curled its tail around it's paws, and I heard a mental voice say "_Greetings, tallwalkers. I am Dennis, and as you may guess, I am not an ordinary cat." _

Integra looked at it in shock. "You can talk?" it gave her an arch look _"I am not suited for actual vocalization, but I can speak telepathically, yes. It was necessary, as most people do not learn cat." _Seras burst out. "You're so cute!" She hugged the creature to her chest, and it wiggled in her arms. _"I am the guardian of Zara and her brother's family branch! I am elegant, not cute, you tallwalking… girl!"_

I stifled a chuckle. "Wouldn't handsome suit you better?" I asked, feeling considerably better that Dennis was not human. The cat turned on me with a angry expression on its face _"The name may have thrown you off, but I assure you I am completely female, _vampire_. And keep your eyes off my kit." _Zara rounded on me as well, an angry look on her face. "Leave Dennis alone, she hasn't done anything to you yet. Have you?" she looked down at the cat, sounding stern.

The cat curled its tail around it's paws again. _"That remains to be seen."_ I looked down at myself, half-expecting to see a bloody slash mark or something, but saw nothing. The cat grunted in surprise. _"A regenerator. I'll have to keep an extra eye on you then."_ Integra peered into the cat's milky eyes. "Aren't you blind?" Dennis lashed, his, erm, _her_ tail impatiently. _"Physically, yes, but there are many things I lack which are physical, and many more that I have that are not." _

_**Hate to stop here, but can't be helped. I gotta do a cliffhanger **__sometime__**. Also, it's 9 o' clock and time for me to go to my room. Not bedtime really, but same difference. I'll try to update tomorrow, but I got school and a heck of a lot of math make-up to do. Two days after spring break! How unfair is that? But the quarter ends on Friday, and if I don't raise my grade, this may be on hold until the summer! You don't want that do you? Review Please. I beg and everything. Auf Wedersien! (I love german)**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Okay, so I had a really short chapter last time, and probably this time as well, because I only got to the computer at 7:45, because of the math I mentioned before. I try to post one every day, because I have the benefit of knowing what will happen (Roughly) long before you people do. I'll be typing along and check how my story's doing, and see the last chapter and say "I only got that far before stopping?" Also, if I confused people with my mental illness statement earlier, it's a type of Autism called Aspergers syndrome, and it is actually really fun to have. Best of all, they can't fix it! You know, kinda like a virus, you can't cure it; you just have to wait for it to go away. Same here! Really, it's nothing special; I just don't like people very much and see the world a bit different. I.e. I'm much fonder of cats than people, who are mostly idiots anyway. I'm also just a bit of a spontaneous weirdo. It fact, me and my friends, (All four of them) have a lunch **__table__** to ourselves, we're so weird. A big cafeteria table too, and no one sits there except us. I don't know about them, but I get a whole seat to myself on the bus ride home. How awesome is that!? Although I think that's more my best friend than me, because her favorite things to do are; A, watch Nightmare on Elm Street, and other scary movies like that, B, draw creepy pictures, and C, stay up way past midnight on homework and stuff. It really sad, because my other friend, who is more enemy (kinda), is her boyfriend, or was anyway. Hard to tell with how fast you people shift relationships. Moving on!**_

_Zara's POV:_

We, like Sir Integra had "suggested" made friends with the Wild Geese, and things were moving slowly. It was a few weeks before Christmas, and we had challenged each other to an ultimate snowball fight. It took us about half the morning to dig our fort, thanks to Adit, who was one of our "special" people. He could tunnel faster and better than anyone I knew, so he was in charge of fort building.

It had seven foot high walls, and was about fifty by fifty feet. It wasn't really that tall, but we had dug out around it to make our snowballs for several dozen yards around, so it seemed that way. Adit had created a "Mine field" by digging under the snow for several intermittent lengths, and quite honestly, none of us knew how far they extended. The person who "blew" the mine would fall into a deep hole, and although there was a tunnel out, it was much too small for most of them to use. And it led to a spiraling pattern that connected all the holes to a central point, with steps leading out. Or they could dig their way up, we didn't care.

It was not unfair, because the Geese had just as good defenses (more or less) on their fort. Although it did take them much longer than us, we did let them go forward with it. At sun down, we each stood by our completed forts, snowballs in hands. "Are you ready to pay for all the insults to me and my men?" Captain Pip shouted across from us. We understood each other pretty well these days, so I replied "Are you?" He nodded, and we let fly with our separate barrages. Snowballs hit people around me, and they went down. "Medic!" I shouted.

Techno bent over each of them, tapping them between the eyes to resurrect them. I grinned when I heard Captain Pip shouting the same thing on his side. These spastic attacks came on and off, and the sun went down. The lights Techno designed came on, bathing everyone in a pearly glow, so we could continue our attack throughout the night. It was okay, because each side was wearing clothes more suited for the arctic, and we could continue in safety as the temperature dropped.  
It was during a lull when I heard Techno saying beside me. "They should be attacking right now. What are they-" he stopped and I jerked upright to see if he had been hit. He wasn't, but was staring at the people advancing under the relative cover of Seras's shadow. I glared at it. "A hostage eh? I don't think you know me very well. I jerked two hand signs at Techno.

Suddenly the walls around us surged with movement as all of our awakened fighters lunged to their feet and started throwing a calculated storm of snowballs at the men and Seras. She must have been told the rules, because as soon as we hit her she left. The men were caught off guard by the hail, and quickly retreated. They left their "dead" but came back later sometime around three am to pick them up. The sun rose, and I was relieved to see Techno remained alive.

If he was hit, we'd actually die when we were hit, and loose quickly. The Geese were still at full strength as well, so we decided to let them get really close and then end it. Several days later, we were still at an impasse, as they were smart enough to see that there was some kind of trap close to our fort. So we waited. And waited. And then, when it seemed like we couldn't stand another minute stuck there with no change, we waited some more.

It was someone complaining that the idea came from. "Why can't we just go out there and end it? I'm sick of being under siege." I grabbed the person and shook them frantically by the shoulders, whispering fiercely "You have just given me a great idea!" Everyone not watching for another attack perked up, and gathered around me. I started to draw in the hard packed snow. "They don't know about the tunnels, obviously, because they've never come close enough to activate them. But what if…"

_Integra's POV:_

I looked outside, and smiled to myself. Despite my protests, Seras had insisted on decorating for Christmas, because there were actual children in the house this year. So we had cheer aplenty, but that wasn't what made me smile. It was the H.D. outside, still in their snow forts. They refused to give up, even though it was a few days before this biggest holiday of their year. I remembered Alucard's stunned expression when I told him what they were doing, and his odd reaction, namely to look at our Christmas tree, where we would put the presents, and then shake his head.

I had seen him earlier, sneaking outside to do what I suspected was holiday shopping, although he had never participated in the holidays before. This was not very unusual, because I had never had a Christmas after my father died, but I suspected him of something.

_Zara's POV:_

I sat back on my seat of snow, waiting. The tunnels were ready. The people were in. Now all we had to do was wait. It was almost high noon, the time when by unspoken agreement both sides would do our major attack for that day. Suddenly, the Wild Geese jumped over the walls of their fort, and ran towards us. I whistled the first few notes of our typical signal "Bum-bum-badum-da-da-da-da-dadum." I never found out the name, but it was a traditional funeral march.

Anyway, it did the job. As the Geese rushed towards our fort, the snow by their own suddenly moved, and holes opened up in what had seemed to be firm snow. People from our team poured out, scaling the walls and attacking the few people left behind. The rest of us charged towards the Geese, snowballs in hand. The Geese suddenly began to disappear, and they fell through the mine holes I had Adit construct last night.

The rest met us head on, and the next few minutes were fogged by adrenaline, flying snow, and glee. I dodged and ducked, the snowballs all missed me, and mine flew towards their targets. In a few moments it was all over, and I stood there, panting hard, facing Captain Pip, whom I had taken out myself. I heard the cheers around me as it was acknowledged that the H.D. had won. I offered him a hand up, and he took it.

_***Time Skip***_

I stood in a shopping mall, trying not to feel the blind panic that rushed towards me when I heard Sir Integra say Christmas was _tomorrow_. I hadn't bought anyone but Techno and my brother gifts, and I needed to get everyone. I had Roger rush around to get Pip's, Auger's, and Maniac's, and fetched Seras's from my room. That left Roger and Sir Integra. It left someone else as well, but I was in a bind about _him_, not sure whether to get him a gift or not.

I was meandering through the mall when something shiny caught my eye. _Bingo_. I walked into the store, and asked for the price. It was a bit high, but I owed Roger for getting the other's gifts, and I felt bad for him. That left Sir Integra. I got her gift with very little effort, knowing her tastes much better. I was leaving the shopping mall when another thing caught my eye, as if fate wanted to make my decision for me.

_Fine then, you daft bugger._ I walked irritably into the shop and purchased the item. I sighed as I left the mall, feeling slightly guilty about getting Alucard something. _What if my guess is totally wrong and he gets really mad? I don't like him at_ all_, but Christmas is a time of joy and stuff like that. I don't want him to be left out._

_**Ohhh, what do you think it will be? I was trying to get caught up with my plans, so this is mostly filler. But the next chapter is very important, and this explains things nicely. Again, sorry if you want more, but I only had an hour and a half to do this. I can't work miracles! I'm trying, and tomorrow may not have a post, because I want to get a nice, long chapter out, and I **__have__** to stay after school. So Auf Wedersien, and see you when I get the next one done.**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**So, here we are with another chapter. I looked at the last two, and they have the exact same page count! It was so creepy, because I didn't even try to make them match up. I now have five reviews! I'm just so jazzed about that, because most of them (all actually) are positive! I don't know if that's normal or not. But it's a warm fuzzy feeling to see someone else praising your work, because you know for sure you don't know them, and they don't know you, but they still said you did a good job. I'm trying with the whole romance thing; it's just not my style. But, since I did loose properly, and I feel obligated to do a good job for everything, (even romance) I'm not writing in some stupid nonsensical scenes, (even though I could argue that's what all romance scenes are). Also, big topic jump here, but it's hard to find things to give to Alucard for x-mas. He's just not that type of person. Think about it… yeah, I know right? I don't think I'm copying anyone here present wise, so don't yell at me.**_

_Zara's POV: _

It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring. _Except for a mouse._ I sighed, and continued down the halls of Hellsing manor. Even Alucard and Seras were asleep or at least out of the mouse's hearing range. _Dennis, are you sure this is a good idea? _I felt her curl around my physical body's legs in comfort. _You said you wanted to see my work in action, despite my _obvious _credentials. I am obliging._

I grumbled, my whiskers twitching. _I wouldn't have asked if I knew I was going to have to spirit-shift. _I was having an out-of-body experience, basically, I had detached my spirit from my body, leaving enough of myself there to stay alive, and then shifted the rest into a convenient form. In this case, at Dennis's insistence, a mouse. I couldn't do it myself, thus why Dennis was helping. Well, I probably could do it by myself, but it was a _lot_ safer this way.

The humongous pine reared above me, lights softly shifting in a rainbow glow. I moved over to the tree, next to where the presents Dennis was supposed to have left should be. I saw my reflection in one of the ornaments, and grimaced. A ghost-like mouse hovering several inches above the ground was not very subtle when there were vampires in the house. I shook my tiny head and focused on the presents. _Yep... right there, there and there. Alright, beam me up Dennis._ I felt my "body" compress as my spirit fell back into its proper place.

And immediately scratched in half a dozen places, wiggled all over, and cricked my neck a few times. You may not notice, but a lot off tiny little things build up in the ten minutes or so that you remain absolutely still. No shifting, no itching, and no cricking out your neck may not seem like much, but all at once it's rather annoying. After I felt a bit more normal I showered, and then set my alarm for a decent hour. As I was settling down, I heard a thump and a curse which sounded like it came from a source behind several thick walls. I did not pay attention, because I knew Alucard was in the basement level beneath me, and would check out any disturbances.

_Alucard's POV:_

I rubbed my head ruefully, thinking how much easier it would be to forget all this and throw the object in my hand into the nearest garbage can. I had nearly dropped it, and I dived under the table to catch it. When I was getting up, I forgot to transubstate and hit my head on the underside of the table, roaring out a curse in Romanian. Thankfully, no one was awake and my room had very thick stone walls. I shook my head. Giving up now, after shopping in a store with my child disguise, researching her family, putting it together, wrapping it, and making sure it could not be traced to me seemed to much like running away in surrender.

I had first thought of it as a joke, although it had progressed beyond that at some unforeseen point. Now, it seemed too much like something a lovelorn girl would think off, I thought, curling my lip in disgust. But, surrender is surrender, and as long as my will was conscious I would never do so. So I phased directly upward, holding the package in my hands. By sheerest chance, Zara was placed in the room directly above mine, and there I arrived, immediately scenting the fear in the air.

I walked over to the bed, curious to see what frightened her so much. She was twitching and moaning, and the cats around her were pressed close, as though drawn by her distress. Dennis was pressed closest of all, purring very hard, almost as though she was trying to drive something out by it. I, after a moment's hesitation, placed my hand on Zara's forehead, and was rushed with images.

"_She ist still resisting our efforts, Herr Major."_ That major and Zara had a past? She was suddenly so much more interesting. _"Many substances have been injected into her system, but the human remains on top. Isn't that so, fraulien?" I turned, and saw Zara, much younger of course, cowering in a corner. Several soldiers stood over her, on guard, and apparently tormenting her for enjoyment. The buts of their guns were ever so slightly stained with blood, and she had marks all over her arms and body, curled in a defensive position._

_She screeched "Leave me alone you pot-bellied, four-eyed, self-satisfied, SON OF A-" she was cut off by a backhand from one of the men, whom I vaguely recognized as the werewolf Seras had beaten and killed. He snarled at her, the first sound I had heard pass his lips. She lay where the impact had thrown her, sullenly blinking up at him._ I grinned to myself, glad to see that she retained her spirit, even in a nightmare from her past. _"Captain, refrain from hitting her quite so hard in future. We need her alive after all, even though we now have another subject."_

_The ever pompous major waddled up to her, smiling down at her huddled form. "Would you like to meet them?" she glared up at him silently. He chuckled. "What a silly question. Of course you do." He snapped his fingers and Doc strode in, carrying another figure by its neck. Zara gasped, and I raised my eyebrows. Her brother was there, hanging like a broken doll from the Doc's grasp. "Well, speak up boy. Greet your sister. You've been separated for _years_ after all." _

_The boy glanced towards Zara, broken on the floor. "Hey sis." Was all he could manage, what with the beating he had received. She croaked back "Hey. Long time no see." with a smile on her bloody face._ I jerked back, shocked by what I had just seen. This girl was clearly hiding something from us, but I could see why. As the Doc and Major were clearly dead, their subordinates might not be, and Zara and her brother were keeping their involvement with Millennium as far away from their conscious thoughts as possible, just in case.

_Zara's POV:_

I groaned as the beeping of my alarm filtered through my haze of sleep. I blindly reached for the button, but encounter a foreign object instead. It felt like…wrapping paper? After fumbling around for a bit I hit my alarm , and sat up and rubbed sleep from my eyes. The cats around me shifted and got out of bed, as I remembered that today was Christmas morning, which at least explained the package a bit, if not why it was in my room.

I bent down to examine it, sniffing cautiously, jerking back and rubbing my nose when the faint scent of bleach rose up to meet it. So, no one was having me know that they sent me something. I reached for it cautiously, asking Dennis "_Did you catch who did it?"_ She shook her head. _"No, you were having one of _those_ dreams, and I was trying to calm you down." _I looked at the package. I shrugged and picked it up, admiring the silver wrapping.

It was a small box, with silver wrapping paper, and a velvety red ribbon locking it all in place, with a tiny bow on the top. I tugged at it experimentally, raising my eyebrows when it came off in one piece, and even more surprised when I saw that it was actually Velcroed, so that I could take it on and off. I looked at it, then at Dennis, measuring them with my eyes. She cocked her head, confused. I grinned and fastened the ribbon around her neck, placing the bow artistically crooked by one ear.

She tried shaking it off, but caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Even though her physical eyes remained blind, she could still see, and she admitted to me in the equivalent of a telepathic whisper _"It does look rather nice for me. But I'm only wearing something like this for special occasions. She what's inside the box now, silly girl."_ I smiled at her, amused that she would try to overcome her instinctual hatred of collars and collar-like things for vanity.

I started to take the wrapping paper, noticing that it was only silver colored, not some kind of silver foil, as I had half-expected. Every few moments I would try to smell who had wrapped it, but only detected bleach. I carefully folding the wrapping paper and put it in a drawer that I reserved for such shiny things, and faced the box. It was small, plain, and white, like any sort of jewelry box you found in a convenience store. I carefully opened the lid, and gasped.

A tiny golden cat was cradled in soft tissue paper, glittering softly. It had tiny ruby eyes, a sleek body with a teardrop shaped crystal in the middle where markings might be on a real cat, and a tail curled around itself. It hung on a chain that upon closer inspection, was silver twined with steel, in a braid pattern that would be very hard to break. It was perfect. It was _beautiful._

Dennis sniffed at it warily, and jerked back. _"I don't know how or who gave you this, but it is no ordinary necklace."_ I cupped the box protectively, not wanting to give this thing up. She reassured me _"It is actually going to be very helpful to you. You know how the binding you put on yourself is incomplete? This will help with that. It will help quite a lot, actually. I wish I had thought of it sooner."_

I frowned. "Doesn't that narrow down who gave it to me quite a bit?" I asked, knowing my condition wasn't exactly front page news. She shrugged, quite a feat for a cat. _"Not really, no, because it can help with anything of that sort. Also, a really keen sense of smell, a good head, and access to funds, which anyone here might have, and people would at least know that this would be welcome." _I sighed. "Well, I like it, and I'm wearing it. Come on, it's Christmas!"

These last words were yelled as I bounded down the halls, towards the tree Roger had set up, and more importantly, where all the gifts would go. I put on my necklace as I ran, not waiting to see if I looked good in it or not. Dennis sniffed the package twice before padding after her. Her nose was a lot sharper than Zara's, and even then, the gifter had almost escaped detection, but a faint smell of vampire lingered on the tissue, which Dennis did not like at all.

_Integra's POV:_

My eyes flashed open, and I growled, putting a pillow over my head. _This had better be a lot later than it feels like._ I looked over at my window, noticing that the sun was up, albeit barely so. I glanced at the bedside clock. _Six o' clock sharp._ I could hear yells coming from the dining area where we had put the tree, and resigned myself to the idea that yes, teenagers or no, children _did_ get up at the crack of dawn on Christmas.

I slouched over to my door, putting on my cloths and seeing Roger already heading for the scene of chaos from the door across from mine, already in uniform. When I got there, he and Seras were trying to impose order, with little success. I whistled sharply, and they all snapped to attention. "Zara, get you men in some kind of order, and then roger can-" she cut me off. "I want to pass out gifts, Sir Integra." I nodded and watched her as she started passing out boxes.

"This is for…Auger, and this is for Maniac, and this one is for you, Techno…strange that Santa would take the trouble to wrap coal." She grinned at him as she dropped the box in his lap. "And this is for…" she continued, until all of the Halloween Division had at least one gift. To my surprise, Alucard had shown up, and was watching Zara with a strange look on his face…pride maybe? I shrugged it off, noticing that there were still some presents under the tree.

Zara gathered these in her arms and walked over to Roger. "This one is for you, because you help out so much." She handed him a heavy box with interesting wrapping paper. She turned to Seras, saying, "And this is for you, since I still feel guilty about the whole throwing star thing." She handed her a much smaller box, one with bright green paper. She turned to me, saying "And I made your present myself, so I hope you like it." She handed me a box that felt oddly familiar.

Everyone waited to see that all presents were handed out, and then tore into the wrapped boxes like demons. I opened mine to see a box of cigars, but they smelt strange. A note was included, saying _"I know you like these, so I made some of my own, but these are from catnip and nicotine, which is much less addictive. My dad showed me how to make them before he died, and everyone in our town said he was the best. Like father,_ _like daughter, right?"_

I smiled in appreciation of such a thoughtful gift. I looked sidelong at her, but she was busy telling Roger that she had to go hand out some to the Geese before she left, and slipped out the door before I could thank her. I looked around to find Alucard, but he was gone too, probably disgusted by such an undignified display of human greed.

_Multiple POVs: _

Seras unwrapped her gift in excitement, and laughed when she recognized it. A tiny throwing star attached to a ribbon, like an army medal, lay inside the box, with small words only a vampire might be able to read etched around the edges, saying _"The wearer of this medal has survived a blessed silver attack to her throat, so back off, because it hit her and everything."_ She laughed again, pinning it to her uniform. _Such a sweet gift._

Roger looked at the monocle in the box, puzzled. He had one already, it was sort of mandatory for butlers, whether they needed it or not. But he grinned when he read the note. _"I know Techno has been making life difficult for you, popping up in weird places to say annoying things, and suchlike, so I had Auger design these to heat up when he's around. Not much, just enough to be noticeable. Wipe that smirk off his face for me._

Auger grinned when she saw the jumbo pop bottle Zara had gotten her. It was well known that Auger had an addiction with pop, and was never seen without it in some form, much like Integra and her cigars. Beside her, Maniac was chuckling as the melted bit of broken glass from the old chandelier in her hand spoke a story all its own. Later it would be placed reverently on a shelf full of such smoldered objects, testimony to all the battles they had fought and won.

Techno glared at his present, a pair of rubber gloves in an especially embarrassing color of pink. It was more or less what he got every year, rubber apparel that is. He had a whole outfit of bright pink rubber now, shoved into the deepest depths of his closet. That wasn't so bad, except every time he misbehaved, Zara would get someone to drug him, dress him up in it, and take pictures they would threaten to send to everyone in the world via YouTube.

Zan looked at his gift fondly, namely, a three-hundred dollar gift card for his favorite video game store, and detailed instructions on when to play his games, namely not when she was asleep, or resting, or anything that included her being in her room, which was right next to his.

Pip tried to hold back laughter as his men, completely out of control, laughed themselves sick on the ground. Zara's Christmas gift to his men had been beer, and him a shot glass labeled #148 and a note saying _"You drink so much, I thought this might get you to be more humble. Happy Holidays and good luck trying to get your men under control after they start drinking._" He looked at them, realizing it wasn't just the present that had them laughing. He glanced at the suspiciously laughing-gas tank shaped keg the beer had arrived in. He felt the uncontrollable giggles in his throat as he thought despairingly. _Not again!_

_***Time Skip***_

_Zara's POV:_

I sidled into Alucard's room, looking sheepish. When I knocked, his response was "Go away Police Girl! I'm trying to get some peace and quiet!" I said quietly. "It's not her." There had been a long pause, and then he said "Enter." I held my present behind me, although I knew he could tell I had it. He was sitting on his coffin, looking at me with confusion. I swallowed nervously.

"I know you don't like Christmas, and all that stuff, but it's the season of joy and giving, and it seemed rather selfish off me not to get you anything." I said, blushing slightly. He cocked his head, that familiar smirk starting to show on his face. "You don't see anything awkward at all about joining with an organization that kidnapped you, drinking a mercenary under the table, of living in a house full of freaks, but you blush and mumble about getting me a present."

I shrugged, trying not to blush harder. "Many people could be saying that you are molesting me, what with all the following around and stuff. It's weird getting someone like that a present, especially if they're a vampire." He grinned this time, making sure I could see his fangs. I walked towards him, holding the present out. "If you don't like it, I'll let you have some blood or something, but don't yell at me. I did the best I could." I said, standing on one leg as he inspected it.

He tore open the paper, looking bewildered at the book he saw inside. "Extreme Killing: Understanding Serial and Mass Murder?" he said, looking up at me in confusion. I smiled a little, "It's a book cataloging a whole bunch of murders and such, what people think about those sort of things, and how the survivors deal and stuff. It seemed like something you would enjoy. He looked pleased, and slightly relieved. "I thought it was some sort of rubbishy counseling book." I giggled. "I value my life, thank you very much. I may not know you _that_ well, but I know how you would react to such a book."

He chuckled, and I realized with a jolt of horror that I was…_flirting_ with him, a little bit. He certainly seemed aware of that, tilting his head to see my next reply as he asked "And what can I do to repay such a gift?" I shrugged. "You don't owe anyone for Christmas presents, they're presents." He laughed again, and suddenly stood up. I backed away quickly, because I had been standing rather close and had no desire to run into him.

He titled his head down, looking at me. "I feel guilty now, because I didn't get _you_ anything." I shrugged, "Don't sweat it. I'm pretty sure if we called in a debt like that, you and Integra would owe each other hundreds of presents." He grinned, and lifted his wrist to his mouth. I stared at him in puzzlement as he bit down, blood starting to run down his arm. He held it out to me, purring "I owe you blood, after all I did drink some of yours." I hesitated. While I was sure I could actually consume his blood, I wasn't sure what effect it would have on Tetsab. He grinned, saying "It would be rather rude if you refused, yes?"

I shuddered, and bent down. My lips touched the rivulets of blood running down his arm, and I hesitantly licked them up. I tried not to wrinkle my nose as blood, tasting like copper and a sort of ozone, a scent I always associated with vampires, dripped down my throat. It wasn't ozone really, I thought as I swallowed nervously. It was like power, raw and throbbing, and in small doses a bit repulsive.

I looked up at him. He was watching me through slitted eyes, and when I looked up at him he rumbled "I took more than that. Keep going." I sighed quietly and moved towards the bite mark he made on his arm. It had already clotted up, and I looked at it in resignation. Alucard was still watching me, I could tell, and he made an impatient sound when I hesitated again. I shrugged and fastening my mouth on his arm, licking up all the blood on his skin, and trying not to make his wound bleed again, because this was really not comfortable for me, but like he said, it would be very rude of me to refuse him, and there were worse things than drinking a little blood. _But not very many._

_Alucard's POV:_

I had to stifle a hiss of pleasure as she locked on to my arm again. It felt so _good_, as her tongue rasped against my skin and she drank my blood in tiny, forced sips. As she was finishing, I had to force myself not to open the wound again, just to keep her mouth there. She finished, and immediately withdrew herself, backing away and clearly trying to get the taste of my blood out of her mouth. I smirked at her, causally licking the wound myself as she glared at me. "And how was that, in any way, a gift to me?" she said, looking grumpily at me.

I raised my eyebrows mockingly. "You have something now that you didn't before, and it was free of charge, and I gave it to you of my own obligations. Is that not a gift?" She glared at me and growled under her breath. "I hate loopholes. Next Christmas, I expect a _nice_ gift, one that does not require blood of _any_ kind. I grinned at her. "Blood, sweat, and tears are the foundation of humanity, but I'll try." She stomped out of my room, grumbling to herself as she went.

_**And really, if Alucard had to give anybody anything on Christmas, it would probably be along the lines of this. He really doesn't seem to get the idea of this stuff at all. Also, xVentressx, what he said was not my Romanian bit, it just seemed like the sort of thing Alucard would say, because he originated in Romania. People swear with the first thing that comes to mind, so, there you go. My Romanian bit is much cooler and more complicated, and plus, it involves Millennium. Spoilers here, but Zara and the Captain, or Hans or whatever you call him, have a history. (Not **__that __**of history, mind out of gutter please) You know how he never talks? Well…*looks at Zara* Cliffhanger Spoiler! Dang I'm mean!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**I was reading Chapter Nine on my iPod, and it had a lot of spelling errors that weren't in the Microsoft doc I was using. Sorry if that ruins anything for you, and if it continues. I try, I try. I'm going to stick some stuff I hadn't originally planned for in this chapter, but I think it'll work. If I please myself enough and get this really long or something, I'll make like an online Fanfiction series, because I planned one heck of a cliffhanger ending. (You won't have to worry about it until I'm in the teens for chapters though) Examples of my notes on this subject are: **_

_**Find a way to hide the body so there's no trace of her.**_

_**Find a way to take them all down without making their involvement in the plotline too short.**_

_**Some kind of magical-after death barrier maybe?**_

_**Post-mortem plot needed.**_

_**More inventive insults for when she's yelling at him.**_

_**As you can see, I've got this all planned out, more or less. Now I just need to get from here to there, believably! I'll say one more thing; I'm not just going to write after that one chapter with all the ominous stuff in the same story, because it's just about as final as an ending can get without saying "THE END"**___

_Zara's POV:_

After everyone had gotten their presents, they left to go do whatever Christmassy stuff they would usually do, so my floor of the house was pretty much empty. I wanted to ask Dennis about drinking Alucard's blood, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't like her reaction, much less her answer. I was not disappointed. It took her five minutes before she could articulate her rage and twenty before she would even try to answer my question.

_"I should have known, the filthy, sneaking, no good-"_ I sighed. "Dennis, just explain." She padded back and forth in front of me on the floor, tail twitching in annoyance. _"You or Tetsab would have shown effects of drinking his blood by now, at least to me. I'm more worried by what it symbolizes."_ I swallowed nervously, and to get the lingering taste of his blood out of my mouth. "Which would be…?" She stopped in front of me, looking up with narrowed eyes.

_"The sharing of blood is what frees a vampire fledgling from its master. The sharing of blood among vampires that are equals in a case that wasn't desperate is a bit more complicated, and you would count as an equal vampire in that particular respect." _ I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "Get to the point." She dipped her head slightly, the equivalent of a cat's blush. _"It's like kissing, only less… intimate I suppose. Like a date, only… more so." _She said that last part quickly as I held my hand to my mouth like I was going to gak.

_ "_I don't care how much like a date or a kiss it is, it is a romantic gesture in my direction that I most definitely do _not_ need. Oh my god," I said, gasping "He won't tell anyone will he!?" Dennis stretched luxuriously, kneading the carpet with her claws. _"Not without getting his face blown off by Integra,_ _Maniac, Auger, your brother, and Seras. Although Integra would be the only one doing it for a reason, the others will just be mad at him."_

"Seras will probably do it for cheating on her." I said, giggling a little. Dennis swatted at me with one paw. _"I taught you to read people better than that. You know that neither of them desires that sort of thing with each other, although the female has her eye on the drunken man you keep bombing with laughing gas."_ I laughed. "I know, I'm just teasing. I'll just sit here and draw for a bit while I think over what to do with this situation."

I sat at my window as she left, purring some tune under her breath. Well, more correctly, waited until she was gone before opening the window and hanging my legs out, and then started drawing. I have a sketchbook for all the dreams I can remember, and it's really strange. For one thing, there are two sections, one for my more normal dreams, and another in the very back, which was encased in silver and locked. I unlocked that section, and started drawing on a new sheet.

It was my way of bleeding off the hurt from the memory. I drew, and as I drew I pulled all of my memories of that dream and time in my life, and pushed them into the drawing. I don't know how to describe it really, but that's what it feels like. I remember and draw, and when I think about it later it doesn't hurt as much. After a few hours, I brushed my pencil off and looked at my completed drawing.

It was viewed from the center of my chest, so that you could see my bruised and beaten arms, and the trickle of blood dripping down from my chin, and my bent knees. The major was smiling down at me, his glasses reflecting light so that you couldn't see his eyes at all. The Captain was standing behind him and to the side, so you could see his angry posture and clenched fists. Doc was standing away from them both, holding my brother up so I could see the maximum amount of damage inflicted upon him.

I smiled sadly. _Just like it was when it actually happened._ I wanted to go to hell and shake the stupid Major's broken corpse. _Look at me!_ I wanted to shout at him. _I'm living a good life now, and you're where you always wanted to be!_ _Best of all, all your little schemes failed! Schrödinger is dead and Tetsab can't replace him!_ But, fantasies, although gratifying, were not useful to civilized man, and there was a mission tonight.

_***Time Skip***_

I swung my legs on the edge of the seat, twirling a dagger in one hand. _This is taking forever._ Alucard and Seras had said the vampire was not one of the usual freaks, who were still _everywhere_ in the U.K. apparently. So I was put in charge of the van, which pretty much meant I was on the outs for this mission. They keys where in my pocket, and I was sitting in the driver's seat. _Big deal,_ I thought savagely as I imagined how much fun they were having. _What kind of stupid vampire would use a truck stamped with the Hellsing logo as a getaway vehicle?_

My question was answered when I felt cold fangs on my neck and a voice saying softly "Now, I don't want to hurt a pretty girl like you, especially one whose blood smells so good, so this is what you're going to do for me. You're going to drive this van off, after calling your boss and saying you quit. I will direct you once we get a safe distance away."

I turned and glared at him. "I don't have one." I didn't actually have one either, so that was that. But, like a true professional, he took it in stride. "Then I just might have to go to Plan B." he swooped towards me and I jerked out of the truck as quick as I could. I felt a huge impact in my side and then searing pain as he managed to hit me. I pushed down the barriers in my mind and called for Alucard _"I found the vampire, and he almost gutted me. You might want to hurry. I'm right by the truck and heading for a cliff or something to shove him off."_

I, true to my word headed to the nearest cliff, which was very big and very bad to fall off of, even if you were a vampire. Unfortunately for that plan, he grabbed me again just as Alucard showed up. I jerked back in his arms, making him stumble a couple steps closer to that ominous gap. He looked at the pair of us, holding his guns pointed straight at the vampire, who was panicking and pressing me even closer to him.

"Why didn't you stab him?" he rumbled, looking quite unconcerned for my safety. I shrugged best I could "It was way to awkwardly placed in the truck to get him anywhere, and I was too busy trying not to get hit by him again to hit him myself." The vampire said loudly "I got the girl, now if you don't want to too hurt her you'll leave me alone!" We growled at the same time "Shut up!" Alucard sighed. "It seems we are at an impasse. I can't shoot you without killing her, and I am much too powerful for you to take head on." Both I and the vampire looked at him suspiciously.

I caught on to what he was saying. "NO. Hell no. I absolutely forbid it." He chuckled again, casually aiming for the vampire's heart and my chest at the same time. "Well, you are a virgin, so you won't become a ghoul, right?" I twisted in the vampire's grasp, causing him to freak out even more. We both struggled, and the vampire seemed to realize what Alucard was saying. He pushed me away from him, trying to get away.

A shot rang out, stopping both our hearts for very different reasons. The vampire was disintegrating, crumbling into dust. And me? I was falling in what seemed like slow-motion, seeing Alucard lunge for me. _Well, at least I won't turn into a vampire. I sincerely doubt even Alucard's abilities when it comes to finding me before I die, if I do indeed survive. _I thought as I tumbled over the cliff, seeing Alucard's look of horror as he failed to grab me before I fell to almost certain death.

_Alucard's POV:_

I grabbed for her, but even I wasn't fast enough as she tumbled down through the air. I heard her surprised shriek as she plummeted down, and was lost to view, and almost shrieked in return. I listened; almost scared to hear the crunch that would come when she hit the ground. It came, but a splash came first. I felt a small coal of hope flare up in my chest as I felt the blood within her still pumping in slow, tortured throbs. _I can turn her, if I can just find her quick enough, I can turn her._

I phased down, not caring that water was all around me, weakening me. I could hear her just ahead, her breath and that long, slow beat of her dying heart. She was lying half in, half out of a pool of water, and I knelt beside her. I was half amused by the small glimmer of gold at her throat; she was wearing that cat necklace I had given her.

I gently stroked her forehead, wiping some of the blood off. She blinked an eye open, looking at me. "No." it was small, a breathy whisper, as her lungs struggled to pump air into her broken body. I could barely hear it, and bent closer. "Please…no." I frowned at her. "You're dying, you can't survive those kind of injuries. I need to save you." She gasped, trying to suck air into her body a few more times. "Save…my body…maybe…but you would kill…my soul. I will die…as a…human."

I gently brought her up into my lap. "I don't want you to die." I said, cradling her head. She hacked, and I saw blood cover her lips. "If you…turn me…I'll… stake you through the heart…with silver…to a cross…and dump you in…the ocean." She smiled at me slightly, but was deadly serious. I smiled back. "You are a very strange human. Clinging to your humanity even on the brink of death." She closed her eyes, breathing getter softer and shallower."That's cause…it's all…I had…sometimes."

"Ahh." I said softly, hearing her starting to slip away. "Well, as your superior, I order you not to die, because if you are past anything and everything that humans can do, I _will_ turn you." She smiled again, weakly trying to say something, but unable. I heard her thought, sent the only way she could still communicate. _"Sir yes sir, I promise not to die."_

_Zara's POV:_

Everything hurt. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and a part of me noted that I had probably punctured a lung. I tried to take in more air, but it seemed like such an effort. Why was I doing this anyway? I felt my mind start to slip into a soothing blackness, a voice calling me deeper into it. _Funny, I thought Mama was dead._ It was much better here, and there was no pain.

But then I stopped. There was something else, something pulling me away from the blackness, back towards the light and the pain, and I was caught between the two. I saw a flash of red eyes, looking down at me, and they looked worried. _That looked a bit like Alucard. Didn't I tell him something, just before the darkness started? It seems so far away._

Then I remembered. _I promised him I wouldn't do something, something that was very bad. But what was it? _The more I started to think, the farther away I got from the blackness, and the more I hurt. _Why does awareness hurt so much? I feel like I fell off a cliff._ Then it hit me. I gasped, trying to sit up, struggling wildly against the hands that held me down.

"Stabilize her, we're losing her again!" I heard a voice say as the darkness crept over me. I went freely over to it, felt a bone-deep weariness. I just wanted to lie down and sleep, and forget about staying alive. I actually was closing my eyes when a voice shattered through the still darkness enveloping me. "Zara, stay with me please! I still need you!" I jerked, remembering again. _My brother, that's my brother's voice. _I heaved in deep breaths, trying to tell him I would be fine, but the words wouldn't come. Just more pain.

"She's still fighting, but it's very likely that she will die." I heard a voice say as I gave up and went back to drifting in the dark and light, and the veil of grey where I spent most of my time, trying to remember and trying to forget. I wanted to prove the doctor wrong, to get up and live and breathe, and not die, but a small part of me always tried to go to the dark, where I could still hear my mother's voice. The dark was pulling me, and when I tried to rest at the far end away from it, I would wake up almost in that soothing velvety blackness.

I felt like I had been there forever, and would be there forever, but every time I tried to go over to the light, I would feel less pain, and almost wake up. Once I even felt a hand in mine, and tried to squeeze it, to prove to myself it was real, but was pulled back before I could. And at last, I woke up, opening my eyes and seeing the real world, as it were.

Machines beeped and bipped around me, and I tried saying something. "Wa-a-a" I managed to croak before my throat closed up. A nurse dozing in a chair by me stood up, bending over me with surprise in her eyes. I tried again. "Wa-a-t-e" I said, before my throat refused to emit another sound. She turned and grabbed a glass of water, bending over me and helping me drink it. I could talk better now. "Thanks." I whispered, because anything louder felt like it would hurt.

She nodded. "Don't mention it. How do you feel?" I paused, thinking this over. "Bad. Run-over-by-a-train bad, but that's not as bad as meteor-hit-me-on-the-head bad." I said, smiling weakly. She smiled back, and went out of the room. I had exactly three seconds before my extended family bounded in. "You're alive!" my brother said, eyes shining with tears. Techno kicked at the floor. "I really do hope you'll have a cast, because I have some great cast pranks."

Dennis jumped up onto my bed. _"If you left, I would have been severely disappointed in you."_ She said, rubbing her head on my leg. Seras just looked at me, rubbing the medal I gave her for Christmas. I flopped my hand at the boys, which was the best I could do in my state. "How'd you get roped into this?" She shrugged and stood on one leg. "Master got sent to his room to sleep, since he's been here the whole time since we brought you in. I was watching you."

I smiled weakly. "How long do you think I have before everyone and his aunt comes in to see how I've been doing?" She smiled back "About ten minutes, after the nurse's break starts." I pointed to Techno and my brother "You all will get out now, because as an invalid, I will need my sleep. Scat, go on, shoo." They all fled out the door, and Dennis nuzzled me once before hoping down and following.

It didn't even take five minutes before people started showing up. And when I had said everyone and his aunt, I was joking. I was right however, as literally _everyone _stopped by to see how I was in the next hour. I think the whole staff of the Manor was here at some point, and certainly all the mercenaries, including Captain Pip. His visit was confined to showing up and saying "You don't die well, do you mademoiselle?" and then leaving.

I knew he had just said he missed me, but it was hard to catch. It would probably take a steel cage and a hunk of roast beef to catch the "I missed you" in that sentence for most people. I knew what he said, but we had gotten to know each other's speech patterns a long time ago. After sundown the new nurse gave me my painkillers and went to her cot on the floor, close enough that she could hear and help if something happened.

I, however, was not sleepy. So I sat there, twiddling my thumbs, trying to think of ways to get to sleep. Those thoughts were interrupted by a smell that had gotten very familiar. "Alucard." I said, trying to get him to come out. He literally walked through the wall next to me, hooking another chair with his leg and drawing it back over to him. He sat down, looking at me expectantly.

I waved a finger at him. "See, here I am, alive and fine, more or less, and you were going to bite me." He smiled, a little sadly I thought. "How "fine" is fine?" he said, leaning towards me. I sighed. "Both legs broken, all ribs fractured or cracked, if not broken, bone fragment through lung, internal bleeding, cuts on all and sundry parts of my body and that _massive _wound the vampire you shot made. But none of it is _permanent_." He smirked, the smirk he always did, and that made me feel a tiny bit better. "Is that a reference to vampirism?" he asked tartly.

"Yes, no, and maybe so." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed, quietly, so as not to awake the nurse sleeping a little bit away from us. He looked at my chest a little sadly, and a bunch of little things he and Dennis had dropped suddenly made sense. "It was you!" he looked confused. "You gave me that little cat!" he immediately turned away from me, but if I craned my neck I could see… "I didn't even know vampires _could_ blush." He glared at me, a faint pink tinge still on his cheeks. "A little gratitude would be nice; after all you can't deny that you liked it."

I rubbed my neck. "Where is it anyway?" he frowned and avoided eye contact. "Alucard..." I said, a warning clear in my voice. He glared at the floor, as if it had offended him in some way. "I am…repairing it. It was damaged in your fall." He blushed again, a _very_ faint pink. I cocked my head. "How very sweet of you. But next time I fall of a cliff, try to catch me at the bottom."

_**And that's the end of that chapter. It was good, and I don't think I messed up too bad. Alucard wasn't really acting like his normal self, but again, it's hard to do romance, **__especially __**for him. I got eight reviews now! I'm so happy! So, either the next chapter's going to be filler, or a kick start into my plotline. Maybe both. I guess I managed to push them further into a relationship, but it was actually unintentional. I just wanted to show that Zara does **__not__** want to be a vampire, a bit like the Major, (never say that to her face) because she felt that her body and soul were hers and hers alone. (although I'm not sure the Major had a soul, the jerk)**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry about the long wait, I had a minnie writer's block. Here we are, trembling on the brink of another chapter. I don't know how I should go about this, but I think I'd going with Plan Q-65. (Yes I actually do have that many plans for this.) I got ten reviews now! I'm so **__happy__**. I'm doing a little happy dance by the computer. And I wanted to ask people something about Alucard, but I forgot what it was. Oh, just remembered. Does anyone know what his coffin incantation symbolizes? You know, the whole "Bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame." I get the last part a little, but the whole Hermes bit is confusing. Hermes is a Greek god of messengers, and basically an adult male cherub. Absolutely **__nothing __**like Alucard at all, don't you think? Someone explain. You owe me for making all these chapters.**_

_Alucard's POV:_

I wasn't lying about the necklace being damaged, not really. I rubbed the little cat pendant in my pocket, feeling the broken chain slide over my fingers. There was still blood on it, and little dried flakes of it came off on my fingers. I brought them to my nose and sniffed the sweet intoxicating smell of her blood, dulled by time and distance. I felt slightly guilty, but she was in no condition to worry about jewelry, and I liked the smell of her blood.

I could just fix the chain and give it back to her when she was qualified to toddle around. No harm done. That particular thought gave rise to a whole storm of inner shouting, although chief amongst the voices was a snide one saying "_You let her get pushed of a cliff, what does that sound like?" _Another voice said _"Why should you care if she gets hurt? She's just a prey animal, nothing more." _Another very faint voice said _"She defies undeath, and drank your blood. She has power, and might be very fun to keep around."_ It continued, but the rest was too quiet for me to hear.

_Zara's POV:_

So, here I was in the hospital again. Bored. Extremely so. It took them _ages_ before we were allowed out last time, and I thought this would probably be even longer since I had broken bones. So, from the period of now, to about three months from now, I had nothing to do. A depressing prospect. To amuse myself, I looked at cracks in the plaster of the ceiling. After about an hour, I tired of that, and started staring at the ones in the walls.

Once I had every crack in that boring room memorized, I did something I swore never to do again. I started healing myself. I didn't realize just how much I was before Dennis clamped her teeth on my arm. _"That's enough, any more and it will be too abnormal for humans, and they'll suspect something!" _She hissed, sounding panicky.

"Oh, sorry, I'm just so _bored_." She sniffed daintily. _"That can be fixed." _ She jumped off the bed, and then appeared, dragging a chessboard onto my lap. She got each and every one of the pieces in the right spot, and we started playing. After about four hours, I had her nearly boxed in, when I heard the door open and shut. "Whoever you are," I said, not moving my eyes from the board. "it can wait until I've won this game."

Dennis moved her bishop. I hissed in annoyance, seeing the perfect trap she had put me into. "Oh yeah? Well," I said, moving my king in a place that wasn't in check. "try and beat that." I folded my arms, looking triumphant. She moved a pawn. _"Checkmate. You still can't hide your strategy from other people." _I glared at her. "Pox on you cat. Did you need something?" I asked, looking up at whoever had entered the room. It was Sir Integra.

I gulped. "Sorry mam, but I was rather absorbed in the game. What do you need?" She looked amused. "I knew that you could communicate with Dennis, but just how smart is she?" I shrugged. "Very. I have yet to beat her in chess. But I whoop her each and every time in Stratego. So it kinda evens out." She pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Just what is you connection with cats, young lady? The whole story, mind you."

I stared at her. It was dead silent in the room. I swallowed hard. "It's a long story." Sir Integra dragged a chair over to my bed and sat down. "I have time." I looked at Dennis, who sighed. _"It will come out eventually, and they will take it better if you tell them yourself."_ I took a deep breath, trying to find a good spot to begin my long, painful history.

_Integra's POV:_

Zara took a deep breath, and started. "A long time ago, my family got involved with some kind of cat spirit. I don't remember just how long ago it was, but in time the spirit actually merged with my family's genes. Everything besides that was normal, but some time along the line we began hunting vampires. Maybe you at Hellsing heard of us, the Pazúry family. " I nodded slowly. " I've heard of you, but everyone asuumed you had died. "

She laughed, a coarse hacking that sounded like it hurt her lungs. "Apperently we wern't dead enough. Mellenuim came after us during their first reincarnation, the one Alucard and your butler destroyed. Everyone in Europe was dying, so we fled to the Americas. We hid in the North and South one alike. My family hid in Brazil. " She clenched her fists. "It was peaceful for a really long time. My branch of the family wasn't in vampire hunting much then, so I grew up pretty much like a normal kid."

"Then this one day, I was goofing around like normal. My brother had gone off to our cousins in the states, so he wasn't there. Dennis was playing with me, and then she suddenly took off. I didn't get why, but I wanted to go down to ask mom. When I went over to her, I felt really weird, and stumbled a little. I was only six, so it was pretty normal. But then," here she faltered, and winced at some painful memory. "I must have started changing, because my mom was freaking out."

"Some members of our family could, so she and my dad knew what to do. They knew that I might completely freak out, like a werewolf or something if they didn't bind my power. My dad started it, but I had to finish myself, because Millennium was attacking us. I must not have done a good enough job, because when the pain stopped and I got up to look for my parents, I freaked."

"You know that werewolf that served the Major? He was there. My parents must have put up such a fight, because when I stumbled out he was only just finishing tearing apart my father's corpse." She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself before continuing. "I snapped. I ran at him, knowing that I was doing a suicide move, but I didn't care. He didn't see me as a threat, but I soon fixed that. Werewolves may be able to heal, but apparently the wounds caused my freak form's didn't, or at least, they only healed like normal wounds, the slow way."

"He was toying with me at first, so he opened his mouth to roar, or howl, or whatever he would normally do to frighten an opponent." A faint smile graced her mouth, and a note of pride entered her voice. "He howled all right, but in pain. I would have hit his nose or something, if he hadn't opened his mouth, but I sliced his tongue off as it was. I managed to get in another few swipes before he could register through the pain and smash me into a wall. I blacked out."

"When I woke up, I was in Millennium's custody. The Captain hated me right from the start, because apparently the damage was permanent. He couldn't grow a new tongue, and it even carried over to his human form. The soldiers hated me too, because I fought them whenever they tried to get me to do anything, and I hated them right back."

She made eye contact with me for the first time since she began her story. "I'm sure the Major told you about his plan for Alucard, but here's something he probably didn't tell you. They knew there was a chance Schrödinger might fail, so they needed to plan a back up." She took a deep breath. "I was that back up. They managed to confine the clan spirit in me, but there was one thing they didn't count on. I had bound that part of me before, so she couldn't just rampage everywhere."

"That was their plan, actually, because they knew the confined limits of my body would drive her crazy. That worked. She went crazy. She still is crazy, so much so that I can't even use more than a fraction of the powers that came with her being locked in me without going crazy too. So they found out how to release her. That was mainly by putting me in pain, or danger. They experimented on me for months, years really."

"I resisted, but they all worked, more or less. The part of me that was her grew almost every day. They had been killing everyone from our clan, since they had found me, actually. After a few years, they found my brother and brought him in. So now they had two test subjects, and I was more expendable. But, here's the weird thing. My brother's completely normal. He doesn't have any special enhancements, or anything, despite their best efforts."

"Anyway, a few years before the Battle for London started; we escaped, and met Dennis. She taught us how to manage with things, and control my powers, and helped us stay hidden. We met our friends, and started the H.D. We told them everything, because we felt like they needed to know, but they didn't care. Some of them were actually refugees from Millennium, experiments like us. That's all really; we were just hunting vampires from then until now."

I looked at her. "How do I know you won't try to destroy Alucard?" She shrugged. "I think their plan was to have her rampage across the world until she killed off his entire food source, humans namely. Needless to say, I will be doing no such thing. They were a few months short of completing their experiments when we escaped." I nodded. "Thank you for telling me this. I'll leave you to rest now. Do you need anything before I go?"

She smiled painfully, and laughed a little. "Just the entire contents of your library, and a few dozen board games, but I think I'll manage. As far as I know, boredom's never killed anybody." I left, thinking about more than just her condition.

_Zara's POV:_

"That went over well." I remarked, staring at the door Integra had left through. Dennis looked at me sharply _"You did not tell her the whole truth."_ I shrugged helplessly. "I can't really do that, it's just too painful to tell the whole truth of the story. I told her exactly what she needed to know, leaving out the most painful bits." Dennis curled around me _"I'm flattered that you think my death is so painful, but not telling the truth will come back to bite you later."_

_**I know it's short, but not posting on Friday got me depressed. I couldn't skip **__two__** days! Think of how the people reading this would be yelling at me! So I explained more about Zara's past. About the Captain, well, do you have a plausible explanation why he didn't talk at all, ever? Not even when he had some prime, in your face taunt moments, he said nothing! So I thought this. By the way, if you really can't stand it anymore, here is a meaningless bit about what the bad guys are. I can't just say it, in case those of you that don't want to know read it by accident. So just read the last word in every sentence in the next paragraph if you want to know. Ignore it otherwise. It's actually true; I read it in a monster book and just rearranged the sentences and ad-libed a bit for it to make any sense.**_

_Doppelgangers are the German word for spirits that looks like living peoples' clones. No one knows what they're really made of. People who see a doppelganger say it looks like a misty see-through ghost of a real person, says one professor. Doppelgangers are thought to be sign of bad luck, a sign the living original will die, which actually happened to one Major. Most people just dismiss them as a figment of the imagination, like a werewolf._

_**I think I did pretty well for a code, review and say what you think. I'm almost to the part where I introduce them! And I'll explain Dennis later; I just wanted to put it with something else. XVentressx actually gave me the idea for it, so if you want send in suggestions like that. I'm not forcing anything here, so don't if you don't want to. Auf Wedersien! **_


	12. Chapter 12

_**I like this chapter. I get to make Zara wear a dress! I love being an author, because you get "phenomenal cosmic power" over your characters, although sometimes you have an "itty bitty living space." Yes I did just quote Aladdin, deal with it. I might be slowing down production on this, because I keep getting sidetracked to my Soul Eater story, which I won't even get online until I'm done with this, because I want to have this finished before I go on to the other one. I told myself I would only work on a chapter in the Soul Eater when I can't do this one anymore, but it's an unbearable temptation. So I'm going to get this moving!**_

_Zara's POV:_

I had progressed to the point where I could use crutches to move around, and speak louder than a whisper, although doing both at the same time would be rather painful. Techno, true to his word, had some very annoying pranks, mostly consisting of waving a precious item, like my sketchbook, around, threatening to draw on it as he danced around my pathetic efforts at movement. That is, until I figured out how to throw a crutch at him without falling down.

Then he stopped with those, although a few weeks later he started again, and when I threw my crutch at him, he would take it and hide it in some obscure location. One such joyful occasion, I was glaring at the top of the highest shelf in the Hellsing library, trying to think of how to get it down. I had just figured out how and was hanging from the topmost shelf with my legs dangling in the air when Roger walked in.

"Oh, erm, Mrs. Zara, I'm sure you could just ask for help if you wished for a book." I grunted, seriously re-thinking my idea. "Techno stole one of my crutches again and put it up here. I'm trying to get it back." He raised his eyebrows and picked up my other crutch, which I had left on the floor. "Your solution was to use your crutch as a pole and vault up there?" I blushed. "It seemed so much more plausible before you said it out loud."

I shifted, putting one hand on the top of the shelf and fumbling for my crutch. I grabbed it and tossed it down behind me, knowing Roger would get out of the way. "See, I got it down. Problem solved." I said, frantically grabbing the edge of the shelf, trying to avoid a painful plummet to terra firma. Roger looked up at me neutrally. "And how will you get yourself down?" I twisted my head, looking at him. "I'm working on that. Any ideas?"

He looked up at me, hiding a smile. "Surely you don't need a lowly butler's help?" I scowled at him. "I could just let go and drop onto you. I'm sure a strong person like yourself would be up to the challenge." His eyes widened, and he backed away. "With all due respect, I don't think I could." I sighed. "Are you calling me fat?" He looked even more panicked.

"No, no, it's just that you would gather more velocity going down and erm, well, that is to say…" I glared at him. "You are calling me fat. That's it, I quit." I let my grip relax and dropped. He rushed forward, looking alarmed. I caught the edge of another shelf, lower down. "Aww, you do care. Here I thought you were going to let this poor fat girl plummet to her doom."

He put his hands on his hips. "Sarcasm is a bad idea for someone who's stuck on a shelf with both her crutches in the hands of someone who can find Techno very easily." I turned pale. "Roger, that's so below the belt I'm surprised it made contact with anything but the floor." I dropped again, gripping the edge of a shelf just above ground level. Roger gave me my crutches as I carefully made contact with the ground, and I hugged him.

"You are awesome. If I had seen anyone else like that I would have laughed myself sick." I said, laughing a little. He patted my back, smiling despite himself. "Next time, just ask for help. I could barely contain myself as it was." I left the library, hopping a little as I settled into the pattern of a crutch-walk. I didn't even have to sniff to tell who it was as I heard footsteps fall in next to me. "How can you stand it when he does all these things to you?" Seras asked, apparently amazed be my restraint.

I sniffed. "Techno walks a fine line, but he knows me well enough to tell when he's really pushing my buttons and backs off. We've been through so much he's like a second brother to me, and he would have to do something really bad to get me mad." Seras looked at me curiously. "Like what?" I took a deep breath, feeling tiredness from all my antics today settle in. "Something like, oh, I dunno, something _really_ bad." She giggled. "Do you like him?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Seras look at me concernedly, seeing my eye twitch. "Did I say something wrong?" A slight smile appeared on my lips. "Me…and Techno?" I couldn't contain myself anymore and fell on the ground. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" I shrieked, laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Seras smiled too, looking better now that she knew she hadn't offended me. "Well, he crosses the line with you so much I thought there might be something else going on."

I gasped "Please…Seras…can't breathe." I took a deep breath and smoothed my hair back. "Sorry about that. Help me up?" she took my offered hand and pulled me up. I was almost to the medical ward now, where I was spending most of my time. "Well, I'll see you later." I said, waving. She waved back and walked along the hall in the other direction.

I felt a hand tap my shoulder and turned. "Oh, hey Alucard. What do you want?" He stood there, looking down at me silently. "I fixed your necklace." He said suddenly, holding it out. I took it, pleased to see that it was the same as before, even down to the chain. "Thanks, I missed having it." I said, moving to put it in my pocket. He cocked his head. "Aren't you going to put it on?" I smirked a little. "That would require me being able to use both hands at the same time."

He blinked. "Oh. Maybe I could put it on for you?" I shrugged. "Sure" I said, handing it back to him. He phased around me and I could feel the familiar weight of the necklace settle on my skin as he clipped it back into place. "Thanks." I stroked the necklace gently, smiling to myself a little. He phased back in front of me, looking at the necklace as well. "This may sound odd, but don't tell anyone I was the one to give that to you."

I waved my crutch at him nonchalantly. "Sure, after all, we wouldn't want the soldiers to see the big, bad vampire turning soft would we?" He scowled at me, saying "I could just take it back you know. I thought you might appreciate the help, that's all." I waved at him. "And I could throw my crutch at you. Ask Techno, and you will know just how much it hurts."

He grinned, and reached for my necklace anyway. Quick as lightning I put all my weight on one crutch and hurled the other one at him like a javelin. It struck him in the shoulder and he yelped. "Ow! I was just kidding!" I smiled at him, still putting all my weight on my other crutch. "Sorry, but that's my only means of defense. Can you give it back to me please?" He put his hands on his hips. "I don't see why I should."

I felt my weight start to shift. "Because if you don't, I'll do this." I said, toppling over. He caught me a few inches from the ground, chuckling. "I'm glad it amuses someone, because I certainly don't like this." I said tartly as he propped me up, giving me my other crutch as well. He backed away, holding his hands up in surrender. "I don't know why that boy insists on putting you through this on a daily measure. It seems so counter-productive."

"He lives for it. Also, I wasn't near as good at this a couple weeks ago. I kept falling over." He raised his eyebrows. "And what do you call what you just did?" I stuck my tongue out at him. "I hit you first, so that's what counts. Also, you caught me, so it doesn't really count as falling." He smirked. "By the way, Integra told me to give this to you."

He handed me a letter. I shifted so I could read and not fall over and opened it. My eyes skimmed the fancy writing until one sentence caught my eye. My lips moved as I re-read the impossible. I looked up at Alucard. "I will bet every cent I own that you put her up to this." He grinned. "Nope. See you then." He phased away, even as I was yelling "I DON'T CARE WHAT IT VIOLATES, I AM NOT GOING THROUGH THIS!"

_Integra's POV:_

I winced as I heard Zara's shriek echo through the halls. A copy of the letter she received sat on my desk. _"It has come to attention you are hosting yet another creature of non-human origin at your organization. To assure us of its goodwill, we shall be hosting a ball in its honor. Formal wear is absolutely mandatory. The vampire Alucard must be accompanying her, to see how she interacts with other creatures, and members of other organizations shall be allowed to examine her. This is not optional."_

Zara burst into my office, clutching the letter in one hand. "Please tell me this is just Alucard's idea of a joke." I shook my head. "No. You will do this, much as we both dislike the idea." She collapsed into a chair, holding her head in her hands. "When is it?" I picked up a cigar. "Whenever your injuries are done healing." She sighed. "Joy."

_***Time Skip***_

I sat in the front seat of the limo, listening to Zara and Alucard argue in the back. "I don't see how I got pulled into this." Alucard was saying, glaring out the window. "I told you before; you have to be there to see how I deal with non-human people." Zara was explaining, an overly patient look on her face. "Send in Police Girl, you're friends with her anyway." He grunted, still not turning around.

"They specifically required you. Now stop whining. Think of how utterly _wonderful_ a time I'll be having, with everyone staring at me behind my back." Zara said, folding her arms. "I'm not whining." He said. "Yes you are." "No I'm not." "Then what do you call it?" Zara said, grinning.

"Complaining."

"Potato, potato."

"Shut up."

"Touchy."

"Freak."

"Bloodsucker."

"Barbarian."

"Jerk."

"Know-it-all."

Insults were flying thick and fast in the backseat now, and Alucard had turned to face Zara. Roger and I were looking at them both in the mirror, trying to stifle laughter.

"Creep."

"Cat obsessed."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"D2."

"What?"

"You know, R2-D2."

"I still don't get it."

I coughed once and they broke off their argument. "Aren't you both a bit old for that?" I asked politely. Zara blinked. "Old for what?" Roger might have snickered, but we both knew that was much too undignified for a butler. "You two were arguing like a pair of two years olds." They both looked appalled. "We were not!" Zara said indignantly. Alucard cleared his throat. "Actually, I think we were." She glared at him. "Shut up."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"I'll give you a dollar."

"No."

"I'll give you some blood."

"No."

"I'll give you a hug?"

"What?!"

"I'm desperate. It works on the cats sometimes."

"Oh. Still no."

"Dang it. Umm…"

"Give up yet?"

"Yeah. Continue talking."

"No."

"You _are_ a jerk."

"I know."

_**I liked this. It was fun making up insults. I'm plowing on to the next chapter, and it's going to be awesome! In your face temporary writer's block! So many reviews helped though, so keep revivewing!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**OK, this is going to be interesting, because I want to see if I can blend some of my ideas together, coherently. Here goes nothing. This is chapter 13, so Iscariot are coming into play a lot, because that's how I roll. I'm trying to do two chapters in one day, to make up for not doing one on Friday. Still no negative reviews, which I am just jazzed about. In case you're wondering, I haven't said any of the teens' age, because I thought you people might like to think they're your age. Also I'm just lazy.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I fiddled with the edges of my dress, trying to calm myself down. After our argument we were mostly silent, both of us staring out our respective windows as we thought about our reception. At least, that's what I was thinking about. I got bored of London though, and as we neared our destination I got more and more nervous. I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Alucard.

"Calm down. You have nothing to be afraid of." He said quietly. I swallowed. "I'm not scared." He raised his eyebrows. "I may not be able to read your mind clearly, but I can smell the fear coming off you." I blushed. "I feel like something they're going to dissect." I said quietly, wiggling my shoulders in embarrassment. "I feel like a lab experiment they're going to study, a specimen." He put an arm around my shoulders carefully.

"This is just a jumped-up version of an interview. Integra and Roger will be there to back you up, and I'll probably be around as well, if for no other reason than to see you put your foot in your mouth." I smirked at him. "That makes me feel so much better. Only think how nervous I would be if I didn't have an audience laughing at me." He smirked back, giving my shoulders a gentle squeeze. "I don't even want to guess. Look, we're here."

I turned to look out the window and gulped. People were standing in front of a really big house, all looking relaxed and carefree. Waiting for me to show up. The limo stopped, and Alucard removed his arm from my shoulders. "Wouldn't want people to get the wrong impression." He said, moving back to his spot. I nodded stiffly, my whole body tense with nervousness as I stared out the window.

I got out of the car as Integra and Roger were starting to look annoyed. "Sorry." I said quietly, my whole body on a hair-trigger. Integra patted my shoulder and I flinched a little. She looked sympathetic. "You really have no idea how to interact with people, do you?" I nodded a little, feeling sick inside. "I know insults and basic table manners. Nothing else, particularly small talk."

Integra smiled at me widely. "Smile, like this. Be friendly." I forced a smile to my lips, trying not to look like it hurt. She looked me up and down. I was wearing a simple sheer dress, with no sleeves, and black heels. The dress was black too, obviously. Tiny designs in glitter turned out to be little cats, matching the one on the necklace Alucard gave me. "If someone asks you to dance, don't say no, unless they make you uneasy, in a bad way."

Alucard appeared next to me suddenly and I jumped. "And if they offer her insult?" Integra glared at him. "She will deal with them as she sees fit." She led the way to the doors, me trailing behind her, trying not to look like I was completely and totally lost. Alucard and Roger followed behind us. The person at the door looked at me curiously, and I swallowed. "Erm…hello." I said softly, waving a little.

He shrugged. "I expected someone older. You sure you're Zara Pazúry?" I nodded. "Yeah." He opened the door for us, still looking at me in disbelief. We went in and the room was dead quiet. Everyone turned to look at me, and I started to sweat, hopefully imperceptibly. I felt a hand in the small of my back, pushing me forward. I stumbled a little, and the silence was broken as several people chuckled to themselves, and everyone turned back to their conversations.

I looked over my shoulder at Integra. She shrugged helplessly. "You looked like a deer stuck in headlights. I wanted to help." I smiled at her like my teeth hurt. "Yeah. Sorry. What do I do now?" I asked, trying not to show this was a desperate plea for help. She smiled, seeing through my tactic. "Eat. Talk. Dance. Have fun." She turned and walked through the crowd, and was immediately converged upon by several people. I looked after her, and jumped when Alucard whispered in my ear "You know, I could stay right next to you and help."

I shook my head. "You trailing behind me like a stormcloud isn't the best way to help. Go do whatever it is that you do at these sorts of parties. I can handle this." He sighed and phased off. I decided to get some food, as the stuff people were eating smelled quite good. I found the buffet line, only when I got there someone pushed up against me, so I knocked over a woman in a nun's uniform, making her glasses fall off as we went.

We hit the floor with a thud, and I quickly got off, bending down to retrieve her glasses. "I'm really sorry, I just don't balance well in a dress." I said, helping her up as she clutched her head. She shook her head, muttering "Where…glasses?" I gave them to her and she immediately jammed them back on her face. I put my hands behind my back, apologizing yet again. "I'm really sorry." She smiled at me painfully. "It's alright, accidents happen. I was just worried about Yumie."

I was confused. "Who's Yumie?" The woman blushed. "My split personality. I'm Yumiko, a split-personality berserker." I raised my eyebrows. "Your glasses have something to do with that don't they?" she blushed. "Yeah." We continued chatting as the line moved, and sat down together to eat. Yumiko was nice, a bit quiet, but nice. There was a spot left open next to her, and I asked about it.

"Oh that's for Heinkel, my partner. He's a gunman. Oh, here he comes." I looked up to see a man with blonde hair and a rather androgynous appearance in his coat sit down beside her. "Ah, I just hate these lines. Who's she?" Yumiko replied before I could say anything "A new friend. She accidently bumped me in line and almost let Yumie out, but she said she was sorry and we got to talking." She looked around.

"I've been meaning to ask you, but why are we here? You and Maxwell just said it was important." Heinkel let his gaze wander over the crowd. "Integra got another pet for herself, and we're supposed to see if it's hostile." I choked on my food. Yumiko looked at me in concern "Are you alright?" I wiped my mouth, swallowing. "Umm, yeah, sure, just went down the wrong pipe." Heinkel looked dubious, but said nothing.

I was eager to distract him, but I noticed something. "Why are they clearing the floor out over there?" I asked. Yumiko looked over and laughed nervously. "They're just clearing the floor for dancers." Heinkel looked at the floor lazily, and then his gaze drifted over the crowd again. I saw Yumiko look at him longingly, and an idea occurred to me. I leaned towards her and whispered "I dare you to ask him to dance." She looked at me in shock. "I shouldn't" she whispered, blushing.

I smirked, and then said to Heinkel "Excuse me, but Yumiko wants to dance, and I have two left feet. Will you take her?" he looked at the both of us in shock, then shrugged and took Yumiko's hand. As he passed me on the way to the dance floor, a slip of paper fell into my lap. It read _"Danke." _I smirked. Apparently the affection was not just one sided. (Danke means thank you in German, which Heinkel seems to take after)

I had eaten, talked, and played matchmaker to a gunman and a berserker. I deserved a breath of fresh air. As I headed out onto a balcony, I took a deep breath of air that wasn't polluted by a bunch of talking humans. Apparently another person had the same idea as me. "Oh, sorry." I said, backing away. "I'll just…" I felt a thrill of fear as the figure turned to me. I almost shrieked as I saw the same face that haunted my nightmares, stoic and cold. _Captain. Werewolf. _Was all I could register before I blacked out.

_Alucard's POV:_

I blinked, feeling fear surge down the slight link I had with Zara. It wasn't much, but I could feel her stronger emotions. I turned, feeling the fear turn into terror. I phased through the walls, tracking her by her scent. I finally found her, lying on the ground on a secluded balcony. I picked her up, feeling the pulse still running through her veins. I felt her stir, then she cried out and began thrashing, trying to escape my grip. "Zara, calm down! It's just me."

She stopped fighting me, and fell back, limp in my arms. "Alucard?" she whispered, clearly not believing it was me. "What was that all about?" I asked, trying to calm her down. She glanced wildly around, still breathing heavily. I set her down on a bench, not wanting to unsettle her anymore than she already was. She looked up at me. "Do you smell anything…wolfish?" I sniffed.

"No. Why?" She put her head in her hands. "This party must be getting to me. I thought I saw someone from my past." I nodded. "You must mean the werewolf." She looked at me in astonishment. "How do you-" I cut her off. "Integra and I share a mind link. I know all about what you told her." She blushed. "Oh." I offered her my hand, and she took it. I pulled her upright, sensing that she was much calmer now. "You know," I said conversationally. "you haven't gotten onto the dance floor yet, have you?"

She looked at me. "No. I don't know what you're planning, but no." I grinned. "It was an order from Sir Integra, you can't refuse a dance invitation." She looked up at me, hands on her hips. "You haven't invited me, and I'm leaving before you can." She said, quickly moving around me and back into the house. I followed her, knowing I would get her on the dance floor sooner or later, I just had to bide my time.

_Zara's POV:_

I was beginning to feel like I had avoided Alucard just fine. Heinkel and Yumiko, believe it or not, were still dancing, not taking their eyes off each other. A voice behind me made me twitch. "I've been trying to get 'em to do that for years. How'd you manage?" I turned to see Father Anderson. I smiled brightly at him, feeling more relaxed now that I had the hang of this socializing thing. "It was a simple matter of being ruthless in the right place at the right time. I don't know which one was more surprised, Heinkel or Yumiko."

He chuckled. "What'd ya do?" I snickered. "I said Yumiko wanted to dance and made the excuse of having two left feet, and then volunteered Heinkel for the job." He raised his eyebrows. "Aye, that'd work. I have two left feet meself." A voice on the other side of me said coldly. "I, however, do not. I'm sure the party's guest of honor wouldn't mind dancing with me?" I turned to see a very intimidating-looking man with silver hair and green eyes standing next to me.

"Erm, hello." I said shyly, because something about him made me want to hiss and punch something. He extended a hand towards me, and I gingerly took it. He led me to the dance floor, and we started dancing. "So, who are you exactly?" I asked, because this guy was giving me the creeps. He smiled at me. "EnricoMaxwell, head of Iscariot." I swallowed hard. I was really glad we were in a dance were only our hands had to touch, because he reminded me of something nasty underfoot.

"So, you're the new creature at Hellsing?" he said, looking at me distastefully. "I resent the term creature, but I have hired on with Sir Integra, yes." I said uncomfortably. I looked at Yumiko and Heinkel, a few people away from us, and smiled a little to myself. He followed my gaze and frowned. "If they are going to pursue a relationship, they should get a room." He said sternly. "Hey, they're not to _that_ point in their relationship yet." I protested, hearing the music change.

I looked around, seeing the other couples change position with the music, a position that I certainly did not want to be in with this strange creepy person. I felt a pair of hands on my waist, pulling me away from Maxwell. A voice rumbled in my ear "I believe that when the people sent us a letter, they wanted to see us interact, young Pazúry." Maxwell bowed slightly and left, and I felt the hands spin me around to face Alucard's grinning face.

I felt his hands shift to the position everyone else was dancing in, namely, one hand in the small of my back and one holding mine, and I shifted position with him. I put my free hand on his shoulder, glaring at him. "You sir, have now passed beyond the kingdom of jerk and are now dancing in the upper reaches of bastard." He grinned at me, not even bothering to reply as he swung me into the dance. A few minutes later, I was still mad at him, but it was getting to late to keep up that sort of thing.

I drowsily wondered what time it was. Midnight? Or later? I didn't even realize I was leaning on Alucard until he leaned back. I looked up, blinking away sleep. He was looking down at me in concern. "What time is it anyway?" I asked, yawning. He thought about it for a moment. "A little past One o' clock am. Why?" I shrugged. The dance was ending and I dethatched myself from him, searching for some fresh air. I stood on a balcony seconds later, trying to keep myself awake.

_Integra's POV:_

I was just finishing dinner when saw the queen looking at me. She walked over, and I bowed. "The girl you hired seems to be a very charming individual." She said, smiling a little. "She even managed to get some of the Iscariot members to step up their relationship." She gestured to two figures I vaguely recognized from the Iscariot meetings, locked in a passionate embrace. I tried not to look disgusted.

The queen looked at her watch. "You might want to drive her home now. It's far too late an hour to expect a child her age to be of any more social use, poor thing. I nodded, finishing up. I looked around to find Roger. "We shall be leaving shortly, just after Alucard finds Zara. Get the limo ready please." He nodded and walked out the doors. I told Alucard _"Find Zara, we are leaving now." _And felt his agreement.

_Alucard's POV:_

I walked back outside, smelling Zara's scent. I saw her sleeping against the arm of a bench, lightly breathing in and out of her nose. I smiled, pushing the strap of her dress that had slid down her shoulder back up. She stirred and muttered. I cradled her in my arms as I picked her up, causing her to stir even more. I gently stroked the back of her neck, causing her to hum and press against me. I wondered why she hummed in her sleep, then remembered. _Oh, she's part cat. This is probably her equivalent of purring. Well, whatever it is, I like it._

I stroked her some more, causing her to arch and press her nose into the fabric of my shoulder. I chuckled. _Just like a cat._ She nuzzled me, instinctively seeking warmth on a body that was stone cold. I walked over to the car we had arrived in, seeing Integra's raised eyebrows. "Apparently she's more like a cat when she's asleep. She even purrs, in a way." Integra chuckled and got into the front seat.

I buckled Zara in, but she weakly scratched at it, silently complaining in her sleep. I sighed and unbuckled her, cradling her in my lap as the car started forward. Roger looked in the back, seeing us cuddled together, but said nothing. We all knew the safest place for her to be in an accident was in my lap, because no matter how bad the accident would be, she probably wouldn't even wake up.

About halfway home, she started whimpering and shaking. I gently stroked her hair, trying to comfort her, but it wasn't working. She pressed into me, like she was trying to hide from some outside attack. I wrapped my arms around her, gently rocking her, which seemed to calm her down a little. She nuzzled me again, like a kitten seeking warmth from its parent. I laughed a little, but froze when her nose came in contact with the hollow of my throat, just barely touching it, her breath tickling my skin.

I pulled away from her, which seemed to be a precursor for more nightmares, and she whimpered again. I sighed and let her snuggle into me. I smiled as I looked down at her. _You really know how to mess with my head, kitten._ She smiled in her sleep as well, and the rest of the car ride was spent in silence.

_**Yeah, yeah, don't say anything. I got another chapter up, filling the gaping hole left by Friday's lack of updating. I feel much less guilty. She may or may not have actually seen the Captain, because I love messing with you people's heads (And hers as well) Yes, I think YumikoxHeinkel, I mean, did you see how he freaked when Walter killed her? If that's not genuine affection, I don't know what is. I don't like Maxwell, he always made me shudder for some odd reason. He's weird. Next chapter hopefully up tomorrow, Auf Wedersien! **_


	14. Chapter 14

_**So cold…so cold. My sister has the lucky blanket and it's like minus 3 billion degrees centigrade over here. I want Flurffy! (Flurffy's our nickname for the lucky blanket. Don't ask why, because I honestly don't remember why we call it that.) So I have to resort to my old blanket, namely, a purple one with the Powerpuff girls and their symbols on both sides. I would shriek "What have I ever done to deserve this?!" but I know what I have done and I regret nothing. Best of all, neither of them have retaliated yet! One could plausibly say I dumped one of my best friends and my other best friend's boyfriend (He wasn't at the time) into a briar patch. Well, briar, thorn, burr, those little green weeds that have really spiky leaves, and nettle field. I honestly didn't know it was there, because when I and the other kids in the neighborhood went by there, we never feel anything. Best of all, my frienemy was wearing crocs! They still haven't forgiven me, and it was like two years ago, in the summer. So whenever I want to make him mad, I just say. "Burr. Crocs." And he flips. If I really want to tick him off, I mention the fact that's it's now a neighborhood joke. "Remember those really stupid kids I brought to the Pit a few years ago?" and everyone laughs. True story. Also, **__**flameslavier, **__**I'm not sure that your review qualifies as a request, but I want to get him too.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I moaned, feeling like I hadn't slept at all. I vaguely remembered being picked up and carried somewhere before drifting off, but after that my mind was a complete blank. I slid out of bed, hitting the floor with a thump. I rolled over to my tiny bathroom, and attempted horizontality with the floor. I failed, only managing to sit, or rather, crouch, upright. I felt something furry brush past me as Dennis went to turn on the water. I heard the shower blast on, and staggered over to it. I pulled off my clothes, noting that I still had the dress from last night on.

I somehow managed to get in the shower, and immediately felt conscious thought return. This was not caused by the contact with the water, but rather by the temperature of said water, namely, a burning cold mass of agony. I bit back a shriek and jumped out, hitting the floor with a thud."D-d-den-n-ni-s-s, wh-h-at t-the h-hel-ll!?" she shook her head _"Techno again. I swear he has installed a private valve for this." _I wrapped a towel around me, for warmth. My teeth were still chattering, and I stomped out of the bathroom to get my heaviest winter clothes on. "I am going to-"

_3__rd__ person POV:_

Techno was in fact responsible, but his punishment was coming. He woke up the next morning, feeling very sleepy, which was unusual for him. He noticed that all his senses were muffled, but shrugged it off and went to the bathroom to shave. He was so sleepy he didn't even look at the mirror, and rummaged around for his razor in his cabinet drawers. "What the…" he muttered, not finding it in any of them. It was then he turned to look in the mirror, and almost fainted. "MY EYES!"

_Zara's POV:_

I choked, knowing her was going to get me back sooner or later, but this was worth it. I had managed to hide each and every sharp object in the Hellsing manor, and everyone actually helped out. Apparently I wasn't the only one Techno was pranking. Even Integra was looking forward to this. I had drugged Techno last night, and dressed him up in the pink rubber outfit. Better still, I had melted the edges together, so that unless he found something sharp, he was going to wait to get it off.

I could hear him from three floors down, shrieking "Get-it-off, get-it-off, get-it-off, get-it-off, get-it-off, GET-IT-OFF!" I casually meandered over in that direction, which sounded like the chandelier room. I turned out to be right, as I saw Techno hanging upside down from the chandelier, frantically sawing at the edges of his outfit with a piece of broken crystal. I tried to contain my laughter, but apparently the fact it was a pink rubber _monkey _suit had tipped him over the edge.

I looked up at him "Calling you stupid would be an insult to stupid people. Don't you know I'd have hidden all the objects able to cut that? Because I have." He wailed, falling off the chandelier with a thump. "Why, what do you want with a poor little monkey? I won't eat the banana, I promise! I was never in Cuba! Gurple." I raised my eyebrows. "You ok man?" he was sucking on his thumb, although he was somewhat prevented from doing so by the rubber.

"Noooooo." I sighed. Apparently someone or something had been messing with his head. "I know you were never in Cuba, but tell you what? You can eat the banana, go on!" I smiled at him encouragingly. "Banana?" He asked quaveringly. I nodded, still smiling. "Yes, banana." He suddenly jumped at me, and I backed away. He started chasing me through the halls, shrieking "I want banana!"

_A few hours earlier…_

Seras phased into Techno's room, a smile on her face. Zara had told her about the grand master plan and she wanted to help make it more interesting. So she whispered in Techno's ear, planting a subliminal suggestion in his sleeping mind…

"_You are secretly a monkey, who is secretly a secret agent working secretly for a secret organization. You always say gurple, because that's what cool monkeys say. All yellow objects are bananas, which you have to yank on to eat. In times of danger, you suck you thumb, because that scares away all enemies. If anyone asks, you weren't in Cuba, because, umm... just because." _She grinned as he stirred and mumbled in his sleep, accepting her command. _Master was right, this sort of thing is fun. _She walked right through the walls of his room, emerging in the hallway.

_An hour or so after that, but before Zara comes finds him, like, somewhere in the middle…_

I watched in amazement as Techno destroyed the kitchen. He was clearly off his hinges, most likely caused by the pink monkey suit. _If I had to wear that heinous color…_ I shuddered. Suddenly his stilled and his pink-rubber coated body froze in a predatory stance. "Banana…" I peered around him, seeing Zara walking through the hall towards us. His eyes were locked on the necklace I had given her. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck just as he was about to pounce.

I shook him fiercely, snarling quietly. He looked at me with terror in his eyes and then put both thumbs in his mouth, as if hoping to drive me away. "No eat that banana." I said, gesturing to Zara. His terrified eyes followed, and he whimpered. "Or I eat _you_." I let him drop to the floor and scurry away. Just in time too, as Zara popped her head through the door.

"Oh, that was you making all that noise. Sorry if you're hungry, but we have to wait a few hours for the blood truck. " I wildly improvised. "I'm making you and Sir Integra breakfast." I said weakly, not wanting to seem like some kind of predator. Her face muscles worked as she tried to keep herself from smiling, with limited success. _But then again, what's wrong with being a predator. _"Well, we don't have anything sharp, because I can't chance Techno getting out of the monkey suit." She said, ducking back out of the room.

_A little past where he was chasing Zara around…_

Integra sat at her desk in her office, where a large number of people wearing yellow clothing items were barricaded. "He was running around on the walls like some sort of animal." Said a shell-shocked young man in a yellow tie. "He's gone crazy." Said Maniac flatly, sitting on a chair tilted against the wall, yellow socks up in the air. "Don't look at me; I'm just here to see it when he finally breaks in." Zara said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

A very crabby Integra sat at attention, rubbing her temples. "How do we get him uncrazy? There's a meeting with Iscariot scheduled for this afternoon." Zara rubbed her chin. "Hypothetically speaking, we lure him out with someone wearing yellow, and then get the monkey suit off." Integra glared at her. "Hypothetically?" Zara grinned. "That would require a volunteer to go looking for him." The room was dead silent, and faint psychotic laughter could be heard from the hallways. Everyone, except Integra and Zara, looked at the door in anticipation.

When no laughing pink-suited psycho appeared, they all relaxed. "I think we should vote for it." Said a girl in a yellow skirt. Integra nodded. "Everyone, point towards the person you want to go out there and capture monkey-Techno. One…Two…Three!" Everyone, myself included, pointed at someone else. Maniac looked around. "It's an even vote between Sir Integra and Zara." Integra looked at me, surprised. I was pointing to her, a sheepish smile on my face. "Hey!"

"I may be your subordinate, but I'm throwing you under the bus for this one, sorry." She scowled and pointed at me. I pointed both hands at her, which she copied. I opened my hands so all my fingers were pointing at her, which she copied as well. "Umm… toes!" I pointed my feet at her, and due to her desk she couldn't do the same. I stuck out my tongue for good measure. "Oh for the love of all that's freakish and unholy, just go!" Maniac shoved us both out the door.

I put my hands on my hips, facing the door. "She gets a demotion for that." I muttered under my breath. Integra nodded. "So do you." A shriek came from above us. "BANNANAS!" A very squeaky and maniacal Techno jumped down from the ceiling, which I could have sworn was empty. He landed on Integra's shoulders, yanking on her hair with both hands. "I WANT BANNANAS!" We both screamed and I felt something jerk me through a wall. It felt misty, but was apparently substantial to hold against my struggles.

I came out in a closet, with Alucard standing right over me. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he put a finger on my lips and phased through the wall again. He came back with poor Sir Integra, although she looked fine enough to me. It was a bit cramped, but we were willing to wait until Techno was back to normal before leaving. He yanked on the overhead bulb, and we immediately both started yelling at him. "You were walking around this whole time, and you thought to do nothing?!" Integra screeched at him. "You left Sir Integra there, alone!?" I yelled, very upset with him.

He answered my question first. "You were closest." He turned to Sir Integra. "I wanted to make sure you people were out of my way before dispatching him. I will now do so, after putting you back in your office." He grabbed her hand and phased away, leaving me there before I could even scold him. I sighed and leaned against the wall, rubbing the back of my neck. I was so tired and grumpy I didn't even notice when another pair of hands took over, massaging the back of my neck. I let my hand fall back into my lap, still not noticing the presence beside me. That is, until…

"Your skin is very soft." A voice next to my ear purred, and I jumped away from it. "Damnit Alucard, don't do that! I'm jumpy enough as it is without you helping." I glared at him, seeing his smirk. "But I like helping." He said innocently, putting his hands behind his head. I stuck my tongue out at him, looking at the door. "Don't you have to go get Techno calmed down?" He grinned lazily. "Already terminated." I stalked over to him, grabbing his tie-thing that held his jacket in place, using it to pull his face close to mine.

"Care to rephrase that sentence?" I said between clenched teeth. He looked amused. "Are you implying I implied that I killed him?" I narrowed my eyes. "What do you think? And you better hope I like your answer." He sighed. "Why do you even care?" I let go of his jacket tie and backed off. "Because, even though he's a jerk like you, he's stood by my side when anyone with sense and a will to live would have turned and run. He's helped me through the worst periods of my life, and I've returned the favor. Not that you would care."

He grinned, and suddenly I felt myself being pressed against the wall, with him looming over me. "You two must be very close." I looked up at him in annoyance. "Not in the way you're implying." He cocked his head, looking confused, then brightened. "Well good. Because you owe me for several things, and I would not want his wrath falling down upon me." He bent towards my neck, but I pushed him away frantically. "I don't owe you _anything_!"

He looked smug. "I helped save your life when you most certainly would have died, and just now. I also gave you this." He gently touched my necklace. "I accompanied you to that horrible dance. You owe me." He bent towards my neck again, and no amount of pushing was going to get him off. Just as his fangs barely grazed my skin, I heard screams. He cursed and straightened up. "Don't go anywhere" he said, phasing through the door.

After he left, I immediately rattled the doorknob, noticing it was locked. I cursed silently in my head, looking around at the tiny closet. No tools that could break a door, just a box filled with dusty dresses. I sat on it, idly drumming my heels against the bottom. I started humming, because I was really bored, and because it might attract attention if anyone was passing by. Then I remembered something. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _I stood up and went over to the door, and got to work.

_Alucard's POV:_

Monkey-Techno was banging on the door to Integra's office, and I silently grabbed his neck again. I dragged him over to his room, and cut open the monkey-suit with my claws. He collapsed, and I walked out, closing the door as I went. I phased back to the closet where I had left Zara, and grinned. She had picked the lock, probably with one of her tiny knives that she always carried. _Clever girl_. I stalked through the corridors, following her scent. I noticed that it went straight to her own room, and shook my head in mock sadness.

I started to phase through the door, but something stopped me. I looked down, seeing a thin line of silver stretched across the doorway. I raised my eyebrows. _Very clever girl._ I tried to use the walls, with just as little success. Peering through her window, I noticed that a line of silver went all the way around the walls as well. I frowned for a moment, and then chuckled. I phased back to my room, then phased straight up. I came out inside her room, seeing that the line of silver could be incomplete, with bridge-pieces she had apparently just put in. She was reading in a chair, facing away from me.

I phased through the chair, tackling her out of it and on to the floor. She squirmed under me, and I grinned, enjoying the sensation. "You cheated." I said, casually leaning on her. She stuck her tongue out at me. "So did you, if you got past the silver." I put pressure on her, and she gasped for air. "My basement room is just underneath yours, and you can't put silver all across the floor, can you?" I said, letting her breath a little as I backed off. She took another deep breath and answered. "Yeah, sure, whatever. You win. Now get off."

I grinned and phased off her, but before she could get up I phased her into her bed, on top of me. It took her a moment to re-analyze the situation, and then she said. "This isn't much better." I casually wrapped my arm around her waist, keeping her in place. I laid a hand on top of her back, and pushed, forcing her to collapse on top of me. "I want to pick up where we left off." I said, sniffing her neck. "Now where was I?" I murmured to myself, looking for the right spot to sink my teeth in.

"You were about to let me go and give me a huge bonus paycheck." Zara said sarcastically, and I watched the muscles on her neck move as she talked. "Nice try." I said, locating just the right spot. I bit into her neck as gently as I could, but all the same I heard her give a small whimper of pain. I stroked her spine with the hand holding her in place, and started drinking. I heard he hiss through her teeth in pain, and felt the muscles under my mouth move in response. _Shhhh, _I said mentally, not knowing if she could hear me or not. _It will be over soon._

She relaxed, from blood loss or from hearing me, I couldn't tell. After a while she slept, and I detached my mouth from her neck, licking the wound to make it heal faster. She sighed and went even more limp, and I phased out from underneath her. Cats crowded into the space left by my body, and she stroked them, not even noticing the involuntary response. Some started licking her neck with rouge tongues, and I moved to shoo them away, but stopped when I noticed that her wound from my bite was healing, much faster than my saliva could account for. The cats were healing her.

_**If you do not get the sheer dumb randomness of the first bit from this chapter, that's okay, I don't either. Yes, the cats do have a mystical healing power over Zara. Cool isn't it? Dennis was appalled by poor Techno's weirdness, so she skipped this chapter. Bananas! Heehee, sorry. It was an overwhelming temptation. See you next chapter. Auf Wedersien! **_


	15. Chapter 15

_**No scathing reviews about Chapter 14 yet; I'm like, in shock. If I had a weirdness meter around me yesterday as I was typing it probably would be bouncing of the wall, right before it smashed on the floor. Techno in a pink monkey suit, yanking on Integra's hair, shrieking "I WANT BANNANA" and dropping out of the ceiling. Yeah… funny mental image right? But if you've read something weirder than that, please direct me to it; I want to get some pointers. I'm just gonna fix up the chaos left by the last chapter here, so mostly filler again, but if I just skipped on in the plot, people would look at me weird. Not that you aren't already, (Don't deny it) but you'd do it even more. I mean, if you aren't the least bit weirded out by what happened last chapter, you are a very disturbed person. You're the C) person in the question; What do you do to have fun with the other people's mind when picking up a younger sibling? A) Make squeaky noises on the floor with your shoes. B) Pick up the basket they put their backpack in and put it on your head, and stay that way until you're done signing out. C) Run around the room backward for exactly thirteen times, shrieking "Crunchy creamy cookie candy, I artichoked a ukulele hamster!" Me, I'm a E), ignore the above and improvise, so you keep them on their toes. I would say this recent bout of weirdness was caused by me not taking my pills, but I don't have pills! So, really I'm just being normal. Me normal, not normal people normal. I'm just rambling now, so please review/request and I'll see what I can do.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I woke up the next morning, and my first course of action was to touch my neck to see how bad Alucard had gotten me. It had no dried blood, which I wasn't surprised at. He wouldn't have wasted a drop on my skin, much less leaving before I had stopped bleeding naturally. The cats' saliva helped, which I really hoped he hadn't seen. Speaking with cats was the limit of how far I wanted them to see, not me doing a whole bunch of other stuff, like shape-shifting and the healing powers of cat spit.

I sat up and looked over at Dennis, who was cleaning herself on my window. "Care to voice a comment?" She looked at me briefly before returning to the important task of self-sanitation. _"Being a stubborn teen like yourself, you wouldn't listen to what I have to say anyway."_ I made a begging gesture with my hands. "Share you omnipotent lore, oh master of all things smart." She sighed, which looked really weird on a cat. _"Tetsab is angry. I wouldn't recommend doing it again at all, or at least, anytime soon, since I'm not sure of his ability to restrain himself._"

I gulped. Tetsab being mad was not a good occurrence. It was rather like being in a cage with a cobra. You stay as inoffensive and still as possible, and hope it doesn't kill you. Or in my case, push me off the deep end. Actually, that was pretty much how you had to deal with her all the time, whether she was mad or not. I walked over to take a shower, because, cat-like, Tetsab _hated _water, and would withdraw influence from my mind at least a little if I was in it.

I was drying my hair off when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I called, putting the towel down and walking out of the bathroom. I had put on some normal people clothes, because Dennis had told me to. She had probably smelled the person coming three floors down. I looked around, but saw no one. _That's weird._ Dennis was gone too, and I felt that imperceptible prickling on the back of my neck that warned of something fishy going on here.

My guess was confirmed when I felt hands lock around me and a smelly cloth cover my nose. It reeked of chloroform, and I struggled, knowing that this person wasn't playing around. I sent out a mindshriek to alert Alucard, Seras, anybody. No one came, and I felt my thoughts start to fade. I went limp, feeling the grip on my body loosen, then thrashed wildly, trying to escape their grip and run. I broke free for a second and hurled a dagger at the window, seeing it break and hearing the alarms start before blackness closed over my mind and I collapsed.

_Integra's POV:_

Techno had not only apologized, but had sworn not to prank anyone for three months, on the condition the rubber monkey suit was thrown away, which we did with gladness. I had just finished writing out the last of my leftover paperwork from the meeting with Iscariot, who had expressed their extreme "disappointment" in my hiring on of Zara. After four hours of shouting, they left, swearing to make her regret setting foot outside her home turf.

I stretched, walking out of my office to enjoy one of the cigars Zara had gotten me for Christmas, which I enjoyed immensely. They had a much healthier combination than the ones I had been smoking, but still tasted almost the same, if not better. I had just gotten one from the kitchen, and was heading back when I heard the alarms start up. I sighed and started running towards the H.D.'s headquarters. Apparently Techno had only been pretending to help.

_Zan's POV:_

I felt weird, like some part of me was missing. The alarms started up, and I knew immediately something was wrong. I nudged Techno. "Wasn't me." He said, looking at the door in apprehension, rightly so. Integra burst in, a cigar in hand."Can't you wait five minutes before you start a new prank!?" she yelled at him. "About that Sir Integra, it, well… it wasn't me." He said, standing on one leg. Integra stared at him for a whole minute, and something clicked in me. I pushed blindly past her, running towards Zara's room.

I tried calling to her, but our mental link, the only enhancement I got from Millennium, was dead. She was the only one who could activate it too, so until then I was useless. I burst through her door, and noticed two very important things. One, Dennis was not here. Two, Zara was also not here, and I saw the shattered window she must have broken trying to start an alarm. I ran over to it, trying to see if the kidnappers were still in sight, but there was nothing.

I sank to the floor, curling up into a ball, hands around my legs. _I'm alone. She's gone. Alone_. _Gone._ Tears started to pour down my face, because the last time something like this had happened, it was a year before I saw her, and Dennis had died. _Please not again. I don't know what I ever did to deserve this, but please not again._ Hands pulled me upright, and I heard voices, but they were like distant whispers in my head, flutters of a butterfly's wings compared to the chant thundering through my head. _ALONE. GONE._

_Zara's POV:_

I shifted, feeling my hands behind my back. _That's odd. _I thought hazily, almost drifting off to sleep again, but then memory came back to me in a flash. I sat bolt upright, and was rewarded with a white-hot arrow of pain streaking through my bound arms. I hissed in pain, looking around and wincing. I was in a cargo hold, in an airplane or a ship. _Ship most likely. If they abducted me from Hellsing they'll know to watch out for Alucard, and a ship's the best way to do it._

A line of crossed bars interrupted my vision. I was in a cage. _Or_, I thought frantically trying to calm myself. _A cell. There's only one real wall here, the rest is just the side of the ship._ I twisted, seeing that my legs were free. I rolled/slid over to the wall of bars, trying to see more than glimpses of the room beyond. I saw some solider-types playing cards at a table a few feet away, and someone I thought I vaguely recognized from the party. _Oh, Father Anderson. So Iscariot's the ones that kidnapped me is it?_

He glanced over to me. "So you're awake then." He said calmly, like he was reading the paper. "Yeah, so, why have I been put in a ship's cargo hold, and if I may be so bold, KIDNAPPED!" One of the soldiers grinned. "You're here to be tested against God's faith, you freak." Anderson nodded agreement when I looked at him. "Feed her. Wouldn't want her dying before we get there, would we?" He said, pointing to one of the other soldiers.

He got up and slouched over to a crate. He irritably grabbed a juice-pack looking thing and tossed it through the bars. He bent over and cut my bonds as well, and I sat up, rubbing my wrists. I grabbed the juice pack and sipped on the straw, not noticing the taste until it hit my mouth. I spat the drink out immediately. "Eww, gross! What is this flavor!?" Anderson looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember something probably. "AB negative, why?"

I wiped my mouth, still trying to get the taste of blood out of my mouth. "Why on Earth would you give me this!?" He looked nonplussed. "Not good enough for the Draculina?" I glared at him. "Call me a vampire once more and I'll-" Everyone in the room laughed, except me. "Whatever." I said, throwing the blood pack out of my cell. "I can't eat this crap." I scotched over to the far side of the cell and went back to sleep.

I was woken a few hours later by the shifting of the ship, which had pushed me back over to the side where the bars were. I sighed and sat up, cricking my neck a few times. I brightened when I recognized the faint itching in the back of my head. I put my hands on my knees, palm up, and began sending mental SOS signals.

_Integra's POV:_

It had been a week since Zara's disappearance and Zan's collapse. He was still in that position, and the doctor told us it was just extreme shock, although he was pretty much in a coma. Alucard was standing in the waiting room, explaining why he wanted to try and wake him up. "He has a mental link with his sister, but it's not enough for him to do anything but sense emotions. If I can get into his head, I could talk with Zara, reason with her if she left." I nodded. "Do what you must."

_Alucard's POV:_

I tried getting into the boys head before, but was repelled by the sheer mind crushing emptiness he was going through. The doctor was trying to get him out of that state, and I was standing at the foot of his bed, waiting for his mind to weaken just once. It took several tries, but I finally got in, and began searching for his link with Zara. I found it stretching off, and followed it, using the blood tie between us to strengthen it. I came to the ocean, and almost broke my concentration in disgust.

I heard a weak mental flutter, and strained my ears. _"Zan? Hello? I am I too far away? Why aren't you answering? Over." _I called back to her in my own mind. _"Zara, I'm here." Over." _I heard her pause in astonishment, then _"I'm sorry, but the number you have dialed is between two minds only. Please try again when you're related to me. Over." _I grinned.

_"Quit it. Over." _I felt her amusement. _"No. Anyway, I hope you're ready for my information, ok? Over." _I nodded, although she probably couldn't tell. _"Yes. Over." _ I couldn't hear her that well, but I got the impression she was taking a deep breath. _"Iscariot kidnapped me and are taking me overseas somewhere in a ship with a big cargo hold, with a wall that looks a bit like a cage at one end, where I'm at. I'm apparently going to be 'tested against God's faith', and I don't think they mean like you do in school. Also they seem to be under the impression I'm a vampire. They even gave me a blood pack. Over."_

My amusement suddenly vanished in a storm of rage. I tried to control my chaotic thoughts, but it was several minutes before I could pull myself together. _"Who else is there with you?" _I asked, trying to contain my emotions. _"Just Father Anderson and some soldiers, although Anderson is just sitting in a corner glaring at a wall. Nobody else that I've see-"_ I felt her link suddenly cut in a wash of pain. _"Zara!?" _No response.

_Zara's POV:_

_"Nobody else that I've see-" _I gasped as a sharp implement made contact with my shoulders. I turned, to see the soldier who had talked about facing God or something was standing over me, looking suspicious. "What were you doing?" I let my gaze travel to the long thin knife he had used to hit me. "Thinking of ways to make your face look less offensive, although now that I look at you again it may be more difficult than I imagined."

He moved his blade forward, until it was almost touching the skin below my right eye. "This is blessed silver. You won't be able to heal from this if I hit you." He said in a soft, reasonable tone that told me he was utterly insane. I looked up at him, showing no fear. "I keep thinking you can't get any stupider, but you prove me wrong every time you open your mouth."

Anderson shoved him aside. "We need to see its healing abilities anyway." I folded my arms. "I'm not speaking to anyone who calls me an it." He grinned, and I felt a sting of pain on my upper cheek and a warm trickle. I put my hand up, and hissed in pain when I touched a razor thin cut. I whistled. "Didn't even see you move." He lowered his bayonet, and said. "Heal it." I shook my head.

"Can't." "_Do_ _it._" I sighed. "I seriously beginning to doubt your intelligence. I could've sworn I just said I can't." He pointed toward a man holding a sodden lump of fur. "Heal yourself. Or the cat gets it." Dennis mewled. _"Don't! It will just enforce their idea of you being a vampire."_ I hung my head in shame. "I have to." I whispered, feeling like I was betraying her. I took a deep breath and began.

Anderson and the others looked on, and showed signs of impatience when I was clearly not healing. Suddenly one of them pointed. "Look!" Beads of blood were sliding back up my cheek, being sucked into the shallow cut. I gasped for air, feeling sweat cover my body. The blood stopped going back into me, and the cut painfully sealed itself shut. I swayed, feeling light-headed. "Told you I can't." I slurred, collapsing on the floor and falling into the blissful oblivion of sleep.

_***Time Skip***_

I woke again to the decidedly unwelcome feeling of someone poking my back with a sharp knife. "Wake up kitty." A voice teased, poking me again. I rolled away from the poker, and had a moment's relief. I felt the knife again and ran through the various prices of retaliation as the voice called again in a mocking singsong "Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty." I grabbed the knife and wrenched it from the hands of the speaker. As I turned and got to my feet, I saw a stunned soldier looking at me through the bars.

I threw the knife and he ducked, but I was aiming for a different target. Anderson looked up as the knife imbedded itself in the wall, an inch from his head. "Ye missed." I growled at him "I wasn't aiming for your head. Is annoying the heck out of me something you people do as the part of the whole God-test thing, or because you're jerks?" Anderson looked back down at the book he was reading. "Neither. Leave her alone, she needs to be in prime condition for our tests." The soldier glared at me and I stuck my tongue out at him. Yes, I was going to be in for a long, fun, happy time with the people of the good ship _Jerk_.

_**Moving onnnnn! I decided Iscariot was going to kidnap her because I was bored and didn't want to bring Millennium into it majorly(Pun by accident, ha-ha) yet, because they're going to precede the end of this Fanfiction by about 5-10 chapters. Yes, she can heal herself, she just passes out from exhaustion afterward, and only with minor things, like a paper cut. Really really slowly. So, it's not much use, but I think it's a little cool. Twenty reviews! I had a happy attack! Thank you all,**_ _**drizzt, XVentressx, **__**Death wolf, flameslavier, Guest person of unknown origin, for the nice reviews, and only one of you was even a little negative. (What do you **__mean__**, I need to work on my chapter length or people will get bored? How can you get bored reading this? I don't, although I'm a crazy person) I am deeply and fakely hurt. I do the fake sniffles and everything. Not really, I'd get suspicious if you people were buttering me up all the time. (Too much butter and they're probably planning to feed me to the robins) Be warned all ye other authors, they're planning a robin mass sacrifice and you're next! PAY HEED, THE DAY OF- *dragged off by robins, be back later***_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Next chapter, into my spontaneous plot twist. I was just thinking of finishing Chapter fifteen, and I suddenly decided to have Iscariot kidnap her. Seriously, I was just typing and then decided to do this. So it might be a little slap-dash. Oh well. I got away from the robins though! It snowed and now they're all gone! Well, not gone, but you can take more than two steps before seeing at least twenty of the little creeps around your feet. No, I have nothing like paranoia of robins; it just freaked me out that they were **__everywhere__** yesterday. I mean, I looked out into our front yard, which is mostly pavement, and counted twelve without even trying! Back yard, same thing, only more! They were like a tiny feathery army of stalkers! They were even at my school! Moving on from that subject, my cat lost another round with the stairs last night. It's sad, and I wouldn't mind her doing it, but she loses every time. **__TO THE STAIRS. __**She's a very stupid cat, but she's very soft and cute, so we forgive her for that. *Sigh***_

_Zara's POV:_

A clang on the bars roused me from my dreams, mainly of food. _Food. Water. Either of them. If the Major himself gave me a plate of something edible, I'd shake his hand._ I looked up eagerly as the soldier shoved a plate through the bars, but my face fell as I realized it was just another blood pack. I looked at it, my head spinning. I felt really dizzy, and the rocking of the ship didn't help. I reached for it, hesitantly, needing the liquid, whether it was blood or snot from a camel. I sipped on it cautiously, and made myself stop after three seconds. Blood itself had way to much iron in it for me to use as a replacement for water. I put it down and wiped my mouth.

"Done already?" a voice asked sarcastically from the other side of the bars. I licked my lips twice and tried to answer, but only a croak emerged from my mouth. One of the nicer soldiers, namely one who hadn't yet tried poking at me with something sharp and taunting me all the while looked over. "Her face is flushed, and she hasn't eaten the blood at all. We might want to call Father Anderson. It wouldn't be any fun killing her if she can't understand what we're doing." _Hugs and kisses for you too, jerk._ I thought rebelliously.

A few minutes later, Anderson stood next to my cell, while I tried to calm the pounding headache. _At this rate, they won't need to torture me, they can just ask nicely and the pain will force me to give in. _He gave me a once over, and sighed. "Damn you Maxwell…" I heard him mutter. I winced, because even a whisper thundered in my ears. I had my head between my knees, trying to think through the pain. _I never realized migraines were so weak. _I thought hazily. _This head-ouch would make a migraine go running for cover, shortly before blowing it into tiny bits and pieces._

_Maxwell's POV:_

I rubbed my hands gleefully as I listened to the report Anderson gave me. The creature, which I knew was obviously not a vampire, was still refusing to drink the blood. I had gathered much information about it at this point, because it was obvious that the creature couldn't consume blood, or at least not directly. The symptoms he described it starting to show were characteristic of dehydration, but not starvation yet. That would come later.

First, they had to test it's endurance. They had given it food and water in it's drugged state the week before they boarded the ship, but it had been 48 hours since it's last meal, that wasn't blood. It had been desperate enough to drink some of the blood, but blood was not designed for consummation by anything but a vampire. Any more than the tiny sips described by Anderson would make it even sicker than it already was. I couldn't wait.

_Zara's POV:_

My hands were cold. They had been fine yesterday, when Anderson had checked on me, so why were they so cold today? I kept rubbing them together and blowing on them, but after a while I got dizzy. Then I couldn't focus in one spot without my vision going all fuzzy. I was so tired, but I wanted to see want was going on. Dennis wasn't there, and I thought I remembered them taking her somewhere, but it was so hazy… I couldn't think straight long enough to remember properly. I felt a muscle in my leg cramp as I stretched carefully, because I didn't want to get stuck in that position.

After a while, I saw one of the soldiers walk over to the cage. I watched him dully, until I saw something different in the food slot. I scrambled to my feet, watched carefully by the other people in this tank, but they could be a thousand miles away for all I cared. I grabbed the water bottle from the slot and scuttled back to the corner I had been huddled in, as far away from the others as possible. I nearly crooned in happiness when I saw it was actual, real water. I hastily tried unscrewing the cap, but I stopped when I realized that in my eagerness I might spill.

I carefully opened it all the way, and just as carefully took one long, deep swallow, lasting as long as I could make it, and licking the rim when I was done. I knew from experience that if I drank too fast, I would bring it all back up again, not only wasting the water, but nutrients as well. I felt much better, and could focus now. Three days without water was the longest anybody could live, and I was on the third day. I took another swallow, just in case.

You can survive a week without food if you have water, which I also knew from experience. One big swallow every other day, and I could probably last for about a month, if they gave me food, which I knew they would. You don't go to the trouble of kidnapping someone to have them die before you get to your destination. I was being tested, which wasn't helping my mood at all, because from my point of view, it seemed to much like a dog playing with its food before it eats it. Kills should be quick and painless, and torture was just a waste of time.

I was in much too bad a state to contact anyone mentally, even though I was pretty sure they could talk to me. It would just be one-ended, and not very helpful. So I was stuck here until we landed, if we were planning to land at all. An idea began to hatch in my deprived brain. Thinking through the fog of starvation and dehydration was much easier when it was an escape plan, especially one with a chance of success.

_***Time Skip***_

My body had re-adjusted to the familiar routine of pain and starvation coupled with dehydration. I was feeling fine, or as fine as I could be. I was certainly feeling better than a person never subjected to this kind of treatment before. I put my hands on the side of the ship, the one I felt instinctively closest to land, and began my call. My brother would know what it was, but anyone else would just brush it off. _I just hope they cooperate. _

_Integra's POV:_

Zan was up and about, but he was still shell-shocked. He quietly explained that his sister was all the family that he had, and it was more than enough for him when she was nearby. I didn't care, not really, because I had a much more pressing problem, namely how to find her in the ship carrying her and Anderson. Everyone was subdued, more so than I had ever seen them.

I couldn't smoke, because every time I did I remembered the cigars she got me for Christmas. Roger kept fiddling with his monocle, and I saw him look around more than once in sadness, just before Techno popped up. Techno himself still wasn't pranking anyone, and we could all see the weariness in his features whenever someone remarked upon that. Seras couldn't stop touching the medal Zara had given her, and was constantly on the verge or tears.

Auger had disappeared into the library, and hadn't come out unless to take meals. Maniac kept rubbing a piece of burned glass, frowning like it reminded her of something. The entire H.D. was quiet, doing their duties and moving around in utter silence. Captain Pip had roared at his men for hours after they touched his #148 shot glass, and they in turn refused to talk about their reaction when the laughing-gas tank had been moved, namely to terrify the maid who had done it into hysterics. Alucard seemed very, well, Alucardish, ignoring the general atmosphere of gloom and despair to do God knows what in his basement room.

_Alucard's POV:_

I tried once again to contact Zara, but what link I had with her was weak, and not reliable. I had almost caught her thoughts once, but they were filled with thoughts of food, and water, and I almost broke something when I realized they were starving her to keep her docile, like a…a…slave. I had caught them again, but they were fainter, and farther away, but filled with a different emotion now, and I did break something when I recognized they were taunting her, poking her with a knife and calling out insults. This time I caught nothing, except a faint pulling towards the southeast.

Although I would never admit it to anyone, I had been having dreams about something awful happening to her, and kept waking up with blood tears covering my face. _I only want to find her because my master wants her, and her blood tastes good._ I kept trying to tell myself that, but the dreams continued. Then, I finally had success. _"Alucard, I think this is you, but I can't do too much at once, and I'm having trouble keeping up the signal. Don't worry, I'm fine, more or less, but tell Zan to watch out for the great Migration. He'll know what it means. Over." _I tried calling back, but she wouldn't or couldn't answer, and eventually I gave up.

_**Next chapter up tomorrow and I'm really cutting it down to the minute here, because I am staying up to finish this chapter! Be grateful, Auf Wedersien, see ya, I'll do my speal about this chapter in tomorrow's front info thing.**_


	17. Chapter 17 (this one's a bit gross)

_**Delayed explanation about Chapter 16, right here. Ok, so I was researching the effects of dehydration and starvation, and they're very similar. Look them up, they really are. Blood also is way too high in iron for people to drink, because although iron is something that is necessary for health in small amounts, downing blood is like swallowing a bucketful of nails, with about the same results. Vampire bats and other blood-drinkers have special physical adoptions to drinking it, so they don't die of iron poisoning. I actually looked all this up, partially because I was curious to see if you really could drink blood. For those of you wondering about Zan's comatose-ness about his sister being kidnapped, (and this is an odd analogy) he's like a coffee addict. He simply can't function properly without her being there for him. He gets a nervous breakdown when she's gone. Ok, so bits for this chapter, umm… oh yeah, I think I got something. This chapter has GORE! Icky stuff, really, I'm telling you. I'll mark it so you can skip it if you want, but don't skip the whole chapter because you'll get confused. In case you're wondering how I made it all up, well, all I'm saying is don't let me have ten minutes of time in my math class with nothing to do but sit and stare at a wall. It does bad things to my morals. The idiots won't shut up, and I start to think of chainsaws…**_____

_Zara's POV:_

I heard Alucard try to call back, but they were acting up again. I firmly reminded them who was in charge, and they reluctantly obeyed. _This is the problem with doing cross species communication. _They weren't motivated by the same things I was, and saw no real reason to deviate from their normal activities. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I was wrenched painfully upright. Anderson stared me down, and I matched him glare for glare. He pushed me out of the cell and I went, wanting to see and feel where I was. It was nighttime, and we were still far from land, so far that I knew I couldn't make it if I swam, even if I left Dennis behind, which was out of the question.

I saw a big, well; it wasn't technically a building when it was on a ship, but whatever, ahead of us. I was ushered in, and I emerged in a cage, a big one with a concrete floor. I glared at it, knowing exactly what was about to go down. I wasn't disappointed, when I saw that outside the cage there was a lab, with several seats inside facing me, with a Plexiglas wall separating them from me, just in case I managed to get out. People were moving quietly about inside, not paying any attention to me. Someone else was however, and I turned towards them.

"So, is it torture, or are you making me fight? These cages all look the same." I said disdainfully, looking at Enrico Maxwell's smug face. It didn't falter as he strode forward and slapped me. "Silence abomination. We are proving God's will, and executing punishment upon the dammed." I hummed. "Translation, I want to put you through your paces and see if I can make a copy for my crusades. Yeesh, you're supposed to be Christians and you haven't even read the bible thoroughly. #6 of the Ten Commandments, _Thou shall not kill_. Cause I'm pretty sure that's what you're planning to do with me."

He smiled dangerously. "I said _silence_." I snorted. "I'm a teenager bud, I don't _do_ silence. Silence is for old people." He glared at me. I blew a raspberry at him. I heard a muffled chuckle and turned slightly to see a, well, the best way to describe it would be a set of bleachers on another side of the cage, complete with spectators. Anderson was leaning against the wall in this alcove, looking amused. Several other Christian-type people were sitting on the bleachers, all looking at me in hungry anticipation. "God save your soul, amen." They chorused.

I cracked my neck. "Now that fake apologies are out of the way, are you going to start?" I knew this was the way to bug him; act like this was an everyday occurrence for me and he would be furious. I knew I would be paying for it later, but my philosophy was that if I was going to be tortured, I might as well deserve it. Enrico looked so mad I thought he might climb in the cage and throttle me. He abruptly turned and stalked into the lab, closing the glass doors behind him. A metallic voice echoed from the ceiling "Are you ready, members of Iscariot?" A yell rose from all around me, and I stood warily, ready for anything.

"Are you ready, heathen monster from the pits of Hell?" I glared up at it. "That's a mouthful. Can we shorten it? Like just monster, or just heathen, or something like that?" A shocked silence descended. "In fact, all of you can go get run over by a bus, because you make me sick with your fanatical blind faith, you losers!" I spat at the people watching, because I couldn't reach Maxwell, and I didn't know who was announcing. A mummer of approval ran through the crowd. The voice continued, although I thought it sounded a bit angry.

"First opponent ready. Begin." It said shortly, like it couldn't trust it's voice beyond that, and I smiled to myself. A man stepped out from the door I had entered through, and my smile dropped. It was Heinkel. We both stared at each other in shock, before Heinkel asked Maxwell "This is the abomination that Hellsing hired?" Maxwell looked at him coldly. "Yes. Kill it." I took a deep breath. _Oh no._

_Heinkel's POV:_

I couldn't believe my eyes, or my ears. This girl, this, this teenager, was the blasphemy against God? _Vhat the Hell_? _Vhat do I do? She's an abomination, but she brought me und __Yumiko together, and she's not even old enough to drink, she's a child! Vhat do I do?_ She was watching me, and Maxwell said "Is there a problem?" I knew what would happen if I didn't do something, but I felt frozen. She laughed. "God's divine punishment is fast isn't it? I'm like, speechless. Do something, before I die of old age over here."

I felt a flash of anger, and moved forward. I shot at her, and she simply moved out of the way like she had seen the bullets coming. She ran at me, drawing a knife, and I blocked with one of my guns, and saw the meaning in her eyes. _She knows vhat a problem I vould have, attacking her, so she's making it easy for me. _She nodded once, knowing I had caught the message. "Hey, you finally unstuck from your honey pot. But you're still moving _slow_." She said as she kicked me in the chest.

She used a series of quick, jabbing attacks, knowing my ability to block with my guns was limited. I dodged away from most of them and tried shooting her again, but she got in close so that I missed. "You know, since you're not fighting for real, I'll just let you go, ok?" she said brightly, and slashed me across my chest. I felt stinging pain and a wave of blood poured out of my mouth and the wound she made. I collapsed on the floor, sound fading away. "_Sorry_" I heard her whisper.

_(The gore starts a bit into this, so skip until you see a time skip if you were going to)_

_Zara's/Tetsab's POV:_

I felt my heart leap up into my mouth as Heinkel collapsed. It was really tricky, bleeding him enough so that he was deemed incapable, but I managed, and l knew the second he started breathing again he would be fine, in time. Maxwell gestured with one hand and they took him away. I looked at him, absently cleaning the blood from my knife. He was looking at a sheaf of papers, and then he frowned, shrugged, and looked at me.

He picked up a tiny microphone and spoke into it. I was a lip reader, if not a very good one, and started sweating when his meaning became clear. _"Over-stimulus…cat…uncontrollable…excellent chance…" _I knew what was coming next, and hurriedly solidified my hold over my signals' minds, knowing I wouldn't be able to enforce it for several hours, if not days. They shoved a soldier into my cage, and I shrank away from him, knowing what would happen.

He shrugged, and hoisted the gun. It was a tranquilizer, but what they had in it wasn't a drug. Blood, mixed half and half, me and Dennis. I waited for the stinging pain, and when it came, gasped. I looked at Maxwell's cold face. "Please…he doesn't deserve to die like this…" Maxwell said nothing, waiting for it to take effect. I gasped, my eyes flicking, for a moment, into cat's pupils. My nails were lengthening, spastically shrinking and growing as the edges started bleeding. I coughed, tasting blood.

I looked at the soldier, then back at my hands. I closed my eyes and said clearly. "I'm sorry." My vision suddenly cleared, like I had been seeing through mist. I crouched low on the ground, hearing everything, smelling everything. _So clearly…_ I remembered something else. I turned, seeing a human looking at my body in horror. _Food…_

My ears twitched up. I hadn't eaten in years, and a meal of a rat or some other small creature seemed far too small to contain my ravenous hunger. _Fear… it's been so long since I've smelled it in the real world._ I let a hungry growl ease out of my throat. The male's eyes bulged and he ran for the door, pounding on it in a frenzy of desperation. I pounced, and the screams began. They didn't end for _hours._

_3__rd__ person POV:_

Maxwell examined the remains, looking at them in awe. The process the beast used was fascinating, although at one point even he had felt a little uncomfortable. The soldiers sent to fetch the corpse had to be shoved in, and even Anderson left the room when he wheeled it in for examination. The corpse, above the waist, was a bloody mess. Below the waist, the legs had been twisted and one was missing a femur. The ribcage and sternum was virtually gone, with shredded bits of bone still arching over the body's vital organs, or what remained of them.

The spine had been torn out the back in the creature's first attack, and that was mostly gone as well. The right hand was a bloody mess, missing several fingers, from when the man had tried fending it off. His face was a ghastly mask of terror, and Maxwell knew he had only died when the creature literally plunged it's hand through his neck, ripping his throat out from the inside.

The creature had fallen asleep next to its kill, and Anderson himself was the only one brave enough to carry it back down to its cage. It was really a 50-50 chance whether or not the more human aspect would remember what had happened, although he sincerely hoped it did, because that would be an exquisite mental torture.

_Zara's POV:_

_(It's not done being icky yet)_

I stirred, feeling a pleasant feeling in my stomach, it was the first time in a long time I had been full. I swept my tongue around the inside of my mouth, feeling a sensation like when you eat popcorn and a piece gets stuck in your mouth. I got the bit out, and spat it into my hand. I looked drowsily down, and almost retched. A bloody human finger nail was sitting in my hand, and now that I was aware, I felt little bits and pieces of something else in my teeth, things that tasted like-

I ran over to the pipe I used for my bathroom and vomited. I kept heaving, until there was nothing but bitter yellow bile coming out of my mouth, and my stomach was still convulsing. Flashes of unwanted memory came back, and I kept retching. _Blood and something thicker sliding down my throat, agonized cries as I ripped a leg bone from its joint, cracking it and devouring the delicious substance inside and out. The familiar sensation of being surrounded by flesh as I crunched through bones and organs, the blood cover my face as I swallowed again, delighted in my feasting-_

I finally stopped remembering, and throwing up, and I was really glad my vomit went down a pipe, because I was pretty sure I would recognize a whole bunch of the lumps inside. _Ribs, heart, lungs, spine, and the delicious- _I shook my head, trying to focus on human points in my life. I took a hasty swallow from my water ration, swilling it around in my mouth before spitting it down the drain as well. I heardan amused chuckle, and glared at Anderson. He was watching me, looking for all the world like he had enjoyed my performance.

_***Time Skip***_

I had really not liked that one session, but it seemed like that's how it ended. Every week, they would drag me up and Tetsab would eat them, and I'd vomit out the mess the next morning. I didn't blame her too much, because she subscribed to the idea, _If it moves, it's edible._ But even so, I was getting battered into a state of, not submission really, but rejection of the world around me. I just stopped caring, stopped reacting when the soldiers poked my with knives, stopped flipping comments at Maxwell, just…stopped.

I still ate, and drank, and fought it when Tetsab demanded out, the bare essentials of survival, but beyond that I was dead to the world. I had even stopped telling my signals to stay where I wanted them to, and they had probably dispersed. I didn't care if I was going to be stuck here for God knows how long, didn't care that I was probably going to die very soon, didn't care about anything.

_Integra's POV:_

Alucard had somehow managed to contact Zara, and he explained her message to Zan. He immediately perked up and, oddly enough, went to a computer. He began typing at an incredible speed, eyes locked on the screen. He made a sound of satisfaction and turned the computer towards us. "That's where she is." He said, pointing to a point a little off the coast of Italy that looked the same as the ocean around it. "How do you know?"

He flashed us a grin, acting more cheerful than I had seen him in ages. "The internet. It was the agreed signal." He turned it back to him, and clicked on a different screen. It was a YouTube window, and I raised my eyebrows. A news reporter was standing next to a wharf, talking. He turned the volume up.

"In an incredible defiance of most nature laws, animals have been gathering here for weeks now, all facing out to sea. They ignore humans, focusing on some as yet unknown other object. Cats, rats, mice, birds of all kinds, all are gathered here," She gestured behind her, where a mass of animals were keeping silent sentry. "The only object that is in the ocean here is a large tanker, a military vessel. Conspiracy theorists say the government is testing a new weapon, one designed for hypnotism, and other such fantasies. But as of yet, no one had explained this sudden, odd gathering."

He grinned at us. "That was the signal she would send, calling all the animals nearby as close to her as possible. We probably can guess who's on that tanker, as well as why they're not moving. Water's a serious impediment to vampires, and they're probably well armed enough anyone else will be road kill." I shook my head. "We've encountered this problem before, we know what to do. We'll get her back in a manner of days."

_**First question on all your minds, no she's not a cannibal, and she won't be when she gets back. She's just kinda mentally retreated from the whole situation. Wouldn't you do the same if you knew once a week you'd wake up with the taste of person in your mouth? Blech. And it's really not her; she's just the physical shell Tetsab needs if she wants to eat something. Derogatory example, she's the silverware Tetsab uses. She doesn't really count in this whole process .Tetsab's not a cannibal either, she's just hungry and they're the best food supply, and she's not human, so it wouldn't be cannibalism anyway. (Cannibalism is when you eat something of the same species) This chapter was messed up, it's more my best friend's style than mine. Please review, they're going to save her next chapter, I promise. Suggestions are encouraged, no matter how stupid they are, because what's more stupid than the above? Told you it'd be slap-dash. Please? I'll give you a…umm… oh, I got it, I'll give you another chapter! Yeah… Auf Wedersien!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Ok, so I was reading through my reviews, because I always look at them after school, and this was my reaction to one of them. BWAHAHAHAHAHA, I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW THE NEXT CHAPTER. Now, flameslavier, I'm not laughing at you or your review directly, but she hasn't even come **__close__** to showing what she can really do. I get evil laughs just thinking about when she's going to and pwn everyone else. It's going to be awesome! Last chapter was just Tetsab feeling the munchies. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe. Sorry, I just can't wait! Pwnage coming up! Also, xVentressx, that wasn't a flame. Thanks for the bit about time skips, I'll try to put less in. Ok, pwnage now.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I had just about had it with Maxwell and his cronies. Tetsab had finally realized that although she could eat the people, I would just vomit it back up again, so it was pretty much useless eating them. I couldn't blame her for being so hungry in the first place, because it had probably been centuries since she had eaten, even though technically in her spirit form she didn't need to. In a rare moment of cooperation, she had scouted out by the landform next to us, and thus I found out just who was in town…

_Tetsab's POV:_

_Hungry._ I shook my head, trying to focus. My eyes drifted longingly over to the nearest crowd of humans, chattering in front of…what was it again? _Café._ The human part that anchored me to my family reminded me. _The place where humans come to eat is a café. _I sniffed irritably. _Why humans feel the need to form a pack to do something so simple as eat is beyond me. _They all looked at me nervously, and I made a point of walking on.

If there was one advantage to being stuck in a single material body, it was this. My silky black tail switched to and fro as I reveled in one of my few moments of clarity. It was so much _easier _to focus when I left my host's body. That wasn't her fault, the process used to cage me was incomplete, and I realized the humans who did so _wanted_ me to become rabid, or whatever she called it. I shook my head. I needed to focus before the rabid craze took me again.

I was looking for a vampire male, and the only other family member alive. My host was very clear that I was _not _supposed to attack them, and that they may or may not be together. My nostrils flared as I took in scent. _Close_. I padded out, and saw a boy sitting on the edge of the pier I had materialized on, looking out at the water. I mewled imperiously. He started and looked down. "Oh hey kitty. Are you lost?" I blinked in indignation. He stared, and swallowed hard.

I tilted my head, confused. My guise was perfect, a small black cat, (My host explained a _large_ black cat would cause a panic) normal eye color, normal sized claws, normal everything. "Mew?" I asked, wondering what was wrong with him. "N-nice g-girl, I'm one of the f-family, r-right?" He said, backing away. I rolled my eyes. "Mew!" I said, thanking the world silently that he couldn't understand my use of terms. I hacked a couple of times; trying to regurgitate the map my host had given me.

Storage

Maxwell's study

Hall /stairs

Hall

Lab

Metal cage

Bleachers

Anderson's room

Barracks

Cage _**X**_

Tank

"What are you…ew, gross!" I vomited up the map, slightly covered in cat spit. I tapped it with one paw. "Mew." He hesitantly unrolled it, wincing a little in disgust. He stared at the map, looking a bit more pleased when he saw what it contained. I tapped the X, mewing. "She's right there then?" I nodded. "Good kitty! Oh, by the way, you blink sideways. You're supposed to do it up and down." I winced. _Oops._

_Alucard's POV:_

"So this creature, whom you believe is the spirit of your clan that was stuck in Zara, brought this to you?" I asked, trying to maintain my patience. "Ah…yeah, why?" Zan said, scuffing the ground at his feet. "Why on earth would you believe that!" I yelled at him. He looked defensive. "How many cats do you know of that can vomit up maps, and understand what they mean?" I glared at him. "That's beside the point. This is just _too_ easy. A cat walks up to you and vomits out a map, which just _happens _to be the exact one we need, and walks away, and you're not the tiniest bit suspicious?"

He blushed. "Pretty much. Listen, I know it sounds stupid, but it _felt_ like her. It's just a family thing, ok? She also gave me something else, but I'm not showing you until you stop yelling" I sighed. "Fine, now give me it." He handed me a little scrap of paper. _"Ok, I gave this to Tetsab, so you might not like the method of delivery. I figured you guys would try to get here, only this ship has a bunch of anti-visitor cannons. If I can cause a big enough distraction, you might be able to get in really close and board the ship without them noticing. Tetsab's calmed down a lot, and I hope I can use her to help. If Alucard smells a cat, get out fast. If you see something vaguely humanoid chasing people, you're way too close and should run like heck. If I seem out of it, dunk me in water, it'll help. Zara."_

I raised my eyebrows. "Have you read this already?" He grimaced. "Yeah. She's means business if she's going to use freak mode. So all we have to do now is find a ship to take us in. A small one, preferably." I nodded, already planning my method of "acquiring" us a boat.

_Zara's POV:_

After Tetsab told me about Zan and Alucard being in the city, I perked up a lot. I was a little surprised about how no one else had come, then I realized that they had most likely been forewarned by Zan about Tetsab showing up. Zan was family, and Alucard was (pretty much) immortal, so they would be alright if I _completely_ lost it. Anyone else, well, that wouldn't end well at _all_. I shuddered.

But, now on to happier thoughts. I rubbed my chin, considering all possible methods of freaking these people out. I had read something in a book once that said _"if an enemy is scared, tired, and hungry, he's already beaten. You just need to make them realize it." _I planned to put that theory to good use. Iscariot were fanatics, but even fanatics will give into that instinctual urge of fight or flight…

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

The soldiers carrying Zara's meal felt something strange in the air. It was thick with anticipation, and the shadows seemed a little deeper every second, the silence more ominous. They instinctively bunched together, glancing all around them with narrowed eyes. Then the whispers began. Undetectable directly, they seemed to coil in the air around them, muttering ominous half-heard threats, and the soldiers walked even closer together. Words suddenly formed in bloody letters, scribbling on the wall like a child's scrawl.

_Vengeance. _One soldier flinched at that one, remembering long hours spent poking at a certain someone with knives. _Hunger. _They all felt a chill run down their collective spines, remembering the weekly displays that were Tetsab's meals. They had reached Zara's cell and one soldier hurriedly shoved the plate of food in the cell. He clanged on the bars, deliberately loud. "We got you your food, so eat up." He said, and walked away, the others following, all trying hard not to run. When they got to the door of the cargo hold, it slammed shut.

Words started writing themselves on the door in bloody letters. _But I want to _**play**_ with you. _They all glanced around nervously. A skittering sound reached their ears, followed by a maniacal laughing. The lights flickered once, twice, and went out. Bright eyes with slitted pupils blinked at them out of the darkness. Two of the soldiers started pounding on the door. "Let us out! Let us out! LET US OUT!" One braver soldier stood a little apart from the others, holding his gun out so that any enemies could see it clearly. "I'll blow your brains out!" he shouted defiantly.

A giggle. "You'll have to _find_ me first." His gun was suddenly hit by a tremendous force. "Oopsie, looks like you dropped your gun." He bent down and began searching for it, crawling on his hands and knees. His roving hands encountered what felt like boots. Slowly he looked up. Glowing green eyes floated above him. "Aww, you found me!" He felt a hand seize him by the throat and hold him effortlessly above the ground. He choked, scrabbling at his captor's grip.

The men still by the door froze as the heard the gasps coming from him as the hand squeezed. "Well, I'm sure your friends want you back. Here you go!" A body flew at them out of the darkness, thudding against them. One put his hand on the man's shoulder, and realized that the man's head was attached by a few strands of muscle, nothing more. He screamed and backed away. The voice echoed out of the darkness. "Guess I squeezed too hard. Oh well, backbone tastes _great_."

Some almost vomited when they heard the crunching and cracking sounds that followed. A sighed eased out of the darkness around them. "Dang, maybe I should share with you guys. This backbone is _awesome_. Sure you don't want any?" They all straightened. They were men of God, after all, and they shouldn't be scared of a demon. They opened fire, sweeping their guns in an arc, trying to shoot this damned creature. After a few seconds they ran out of rounds.

They all listened hopefully, waiting to see if they had killed it. They all jumped when a voice sounded right next to them. "You guys _ruined_ my backbone." It snarled, sounding very angry. "Alright, you with the gun, you're dead." They all looked at each other in confusion, since they all had guns. A chuckle echoed through the room. "Hey, idiots, look up." They all looked up simultaneously, and screamed. Green eyes blinked down at them from the ceiling as a figure dropped down and lashed out.

_Zara's POV:_

I licked the last bit of blood from out under my nails, and sighed. Corpses were scattered around the room, and the lights had flickered back on. The words on the wall were beginning to fade away, as the illusion Tetsab had put on them weakened. I chuckled to myself. Knowing what I did about cats, I could just imagine the fear the soldiers felt when they saw my "green" eyes. Cats had natural reflectors in their eyes, like dogs, and in dark conditions like the one I had ambushed the soldiers in they would flash greenish-yellow as they caught the light, in a really creepy fashion.

_Now to find Dennis. _I stretched and kicked the door open. I let myself trek blood until I had found her location, and then simply cleaned myself off and walked on the ceiling. She was being kept in even higher security than me, which was rather ironic. I waited until I saw the door open, and skittered inside. Anderson was walking out underneath me, but he didn't see anything. Dennis was inside a really small cage, which I ripped open.

_"Took you long enough." _She grumbled, nuzzling my neck. I hugged her to my chest, letting the tears flow. I let her climb on my shoulder, and walked out the door the normal way. I grinned to myself. Maxwell should be looking into my disappearance right about now. I couldn't wait to see what he would do. Any smart, sane person would immediately run like heck, but a smart, sane person wouldn't push me into a corner like this.

_Maxwell's POV:_

I looked blankly at Anderson. "I must have misheard. I could've sworn you just said that she escaped, and is now running around on the ship." He nodded. "Aye, she slipped away from us. Killed some men to, and it ain't a pretty sight." I clenched my fist on the table. "Our will is that of God. We will not be deterred by something as simple as a demon. Find it, and kill it. Our research is not complete, but far better to kill it now while we still can."

Anderson bowed once and left the room. I clicked to a video feed from the room where the demon's familiar was kept. The door was wide open, and I could see clearly that the cage was empty. I grimaced. That wasn't good. I clicked to another video feed, where I saw that cursed _thing_ walking along a hallway leading to the deck. _Whistling_. I grabbed a microphone. "All agents to Hallway B, repeat, all agents to Hallway B!"

_Zara's POV:_

I was whistling merrily, glad to be on my way back to Hellsing, and because I knew it would piss Maxwell off like a Satanist in his church. Speak of the devil, I heard his enraged voice over the speakers. "All agents to Hallway B, repeat, all agents to Hallway B!" I stretched casually. _Well it's about time._ I jumped up, and waited for my prey.

_3__rd__ person POV:_

A troop of soldiers closed off the hallway, then sent a systematic group to comb it, making sure they could kill the demon on their way down. They held guns nervously, remembering what had happened to the men taking the demon lunch. Some people had seen, and the rumors had spread like wildfire. No one wanted to meet the same fate, even though it had been somewhat enhanced by the tellers. A polite cough above their heads made them swivel frantically.

A young girl was sitting cross-legged on the ceiling. "Amazing how little people think to look up when they're hunting someone, isn't it?" she said, looking down at them. Panicking, the soldiers sprayed gunfire upward. She moved out of the way, casually tripping them all so they tumbled down the stairs she had just climbed up. The thumps and thuds fed the imagination of those above and below, so when the corpses finally tumbled to a stop at the bottom, there were shrill screams from those guarding that end of the stairway, freaking out the ones at the top even more.

The girl casually walked down the side of a wall. "C'mon Dennis, we have an appointment to keep." She said, hoisting a slightly bedraggled but still elegantly long-haired grey cat on her shoulder. As she topped the stairs, the soldiers panicked and shot at her almost randomly. She sighed, and threw knives at all of them, watching them crumple to the ground slowly. "This had better get interesting soon."

_**Yes, she isn't even done pwning yet! Revenge is coming, but my dad put Dark Shadows on and I simply had to watch it, because I really wanted to see it when it came out in theaters, so that slowed production down a lot. I was actually gonna combine this and what's going to be Chapter 19 together, because they just go so well together, but I ran out of time. Its 9:58, I was supposed to be in my room 58 minutes ago! But it's Friday, so I got to stay up. Next Chapter up tomorrow, because I wanna see her grind them into dust! She doesn't kill Anderson or Maxwell, sorry, because I might need them later on in my plotline. I'll kill them when I'm sure they won't have any part left to play at all, don't worry. I haven't done much with Alucard these last few chapters, sorry. Next chapter fixes all. Auf Wedersien!**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**THERE SHALL BE PWNAGE! I stayed up until 11: something at night, thinking about this. I want to see her pwn them just as bad as you do! But I accidentally slept in till ten, so I'm behind! And then mom made me clean my room, and do my chores, and then I had to eat lunch, so I only got here 11:35, exactly! And I have to turn the Hellsing books into the library, because they'll be due today. So I'm plunging straight into the pwnage. 32 reviews, I'm so happy I might faint! Keep going!**_

_Alucard's POV:_

The fisherman had protested, but I had "convinced" him that he should give us the boat. I had no experience driving such things, so Zan was doing all the work. It took him several tries, and two almost crashes, but he finally got the hang of it and we drove off to the military vessel. From several miles off, I could hear the screams and bursts of gunfire that dotted the surface of the ship.

"What exactly is she doing?" I asked, looking at Zan in the forward wheel. He glanced up, and quickly back down at the wheel as the ship gave an alarming lurch. "Probably scaring the heck out of most of them and killing a few others to make her point. It's her method to create as alarming an atmosphere as possible. It works too." I nodded agreement, because I could smell the fear coming of the ship. We inched closer, being even more careful now that we were in range of the ships guns. Which, apparently, were now occupied doing something else. A deafening explosion roared out across the deck of the ship as fire blazed up into the night.

_Zara's POV:_

I had just gotten onto the deck of the ship when Dennis meowed a warning. I ducked as a bayonet sliced the air where my head had been. Pages written with holy words and prayers flew around me, and tacked down onto the deck, creating a holy barrier. I cracked my neck a few times. "So, Anderson, I assume you're here to kill me?" I asked, seeing the shape emerge from the flames now covering the deck. One corner of my mouth twitched as I remembered the panicked gunman who had shot his own ship in desperation. Flames now spouted here and there intermittedly, creating a sufficiently hellish atmosphere.

"Nice night isn't it, makes me feel so cozy when a fire's lit." I said, watching him to see if he made any sudden movements. He flicked blades out of wherever he kept them and he assumed a fighting stance. "It'll be your last. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we are nothing more than dust, and to dust we shall return." I flicked blades of my own into my hands. "Says a man who's about to kill a kid. They must sings songs of your praise around campfires at night, the only man brave enough to slaughter a child." He roared with anger and charged at me. He slashed almost blindly, and I ducked, knowing I should kill him when I could. This wasn't a pussy fight between two mutually angered opponents.

This was a full on duel of epic proportions, no playing around included. He swung, and I was suddenly blasted against a wall, blades peppering my upper body. I gasped, and coughed up blood. "Throwing so many knives at the same time, I'm, impressed." I managed to choke out, blood running down my torso. He straightened up slowly. "I'm going to kill you slowly for defying God's rule." I hacked again "I was wondering why none of the knives pierced anything vital. Here I thought you were just a bad shot."

He smiled grimly, flicking more knives out and scraping them together as he approached me. I waited until he was right next to me, raising his bayonet for a final blow, and then moved. He choked and staggered back, a knife hilt protruding neatly from the center of his chest. I laughed as I pulled bayonets from my body, wincing a little. "You just fell for the oldest trick in the book." I staggered a little, watching him as he slowly pulled the knife out of his chest, laughing at me. "You're a regenerator, I forgot. Oh well, regenerate _this_." I yanked knives from my body, throwing all of them at him with unerring accuracy.

They thudded into his vital points, driving him back into a fire behind him with the force of their impacts. I gasped, feeling the surge of power welling up in me. I let it take me, throwing my head back and laughing as the flames whirled around me and my senses changed. Ears grew longer, pointed, and furry as they swiveled up to the top of my head. Claws grew out of nails, altering the muscles in my hands, making them more adapted to ripping and tearing. I grinned, feeling my teeth lengthen into fangs and blinked my slitted pupils open.

Anderson had staggered out of the fire, and I thudded into his chest, ripping and tearing at his flesh and shrieking in delight. He almost fell, but recovered and threw me back into a wall. I hit it, silently sliding down to the bottom. He looked at me, and whistled under his breath. I hissed at him, waiting for the next attack. "A true demon, aren't ye?" Maxwell's voice suddenly spoke up from a micro phone on his shoulder. "ANDERSON! Where are you!? Get down to the emergency docks this instant!" He looked at me, and I waited. "I would love to kill you, but my boss wishes for me. You'll die anyway, as this ship is consumed by flames."

He turned and walked away, stepping over the sheets over paper still tacked to the ground. I snarled, feeling disbelief course through me. _He's getting away, no prey gets away from me!_ I carefully moved so I was crouching on the ground, the wounds from his bayonets burning like the fire around me. I padded over, moving in the predatory stance of a hunting cat. I reached the barrier. I poked it with one claw, and smiled to myself. I casually leaped over, not feeling any resistance beneath me. _Blessed blades and holy barriers may work against demons and the undead, but I am neither. _

I sniffed, feeling the smoke in the air burn its way down into my lungs. I stalked through the flames, body slung low to the ground. Even with smoke and fire obstructing my vision, I could see so much more clearly than when I had weak human eyes. Voices seemed to echo out of the flames, whispering and hissing in my mind. _"Beast of night, power-stoked, trailing darkness like a cloak." _ My incantation of release, never spoken aloud for centuries, roared in my mind. _"A single will in many heads,_ _a single soul to kill the dead!" _I saw movement in the flames around me, and pounced.

_Alucard's POV:_

I saw movement in the flames next to Zan, who was coughing and calling out for his sister. I pushed him aside, just as a feline shape hurled into the space he had just occupied. Zara landed on the ground next to us, spitting and hissing. I quickly looked into her mind, but I couldn't read anything past a blind urge to kill. I looked around, trying to find a water source. I saw a barrel, and before anyone could do anything, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dunked her head in it. She flailed wildly, but I held her down.

I pulled her up, saw that she was still a little cattish, and plunged her in again. After I repeated this action three times, she was finally conscious. She coughed a couple times, cleared her throat, and said "Took you long enough." I laughed, amused that despite her ordeal, and the flames roaring around us, she could still find time to be sarcastic. "C'mon, the boat's this way." Zan gestured at both of us through the flames and we all stumbled towards it. We all managed to get down intact and sped away, leaving the boat to blaze, abandoned.

_Zara's POV:_

I woke up and immediately felt the sting in my wounds from last night, which was probably the reason I hadn't slept well at all. I crept my way into the bathroom, grabbing a first aid kit as I went. I pulled my shirt up, and winced. I looked like a first grader's splatter paint project of wounds, dried blood speckling me and tiny pricks to huge slashes in my back still bleeding sluggishly. I sighed. _Thank God Alucard or my brother hasn't seen this._ I heard a hiss from behind me and turned. Alucard was standing in the doorway, eyes fixed on my back, his hands griping the door so hard I saw puncture marks.

_So much for that._ I wanted to face him, but my shirt, although still covering the right spots, wasn't exactly where I wanted it. I grimaced. "Who did this to you?" He inquired, still not taking his eyes off my back. I averted my gaze. "Does it matter? They're dead." He finally moved his eyes, his gaze boring into mine. "I didn't ask if they were alive or not. _Who did this to you?_" I flinched. I looked down at the ground, mumbling "Just some soldiers from Iscariot, and Father Anderson did the big ones." He hissed again, looking like he was about to charge out and kill them all twice. I grabbed a sponge from the first aid kit and threw it at him. He caught it, looking surprised.

"Instead of standing there looking grumpy, you can help me get this blood off." I said tartly, scotching around so my back was facing him completely. I heard him shrug and felt the sponge starting to move across my back in slow strokes. The water he wetted it in was very cold, so it took me a moment to realize what he was doing when I felt him stop. "And no using your tongue." I said. I heard him curse, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him straighten up. After a while he finished and I turned to look at my back. It looked much better, and I said as much.

I turned all the way so I was facing him and held out my hand. "Give. I can do the rest by myself." He looked at me, and handed over the slightly bloody sponge. "Out." I said, pointing imperiously at the door. He grinned at me, and walked out, closing the door as he went. I went over and locked it, and carefully finished cleaning myself up. I smoothed a disinfectant over the deeper wounds, and felt much better.

_Alucard's POV:_

I was just waking up when I heard a sigh come from the bathroom. I sniffed the air, smelling blood as well. I stiffened and silently phased over to the bathroom door. Zara's back was to me, and her shirt was hitched over her shoulders so I could see it clearly. Blood covered her, and I saw slash marks and pinpricks dotting her skin. I hissed, unable to control my anger. She looked over her shoulder at me, and grimaced. "Who did this to you?" I asked roughly. She looked away from me, and said quietly "Does it matter? They're dead." I glared at her, saying "I didn't ask if they were alive or not. _Who did this to you?_"

She flinched like I had struck her and looked at the ground. "Just some soldiers from Iscariot, and Father Anderson did the big ones." She whispered. I hissed, imagining just what I would do to the Judas priest when I saw him again. She threw something at me and I caught it reflexively. I looked at the sponge in surprise. "Instead of standing there looking grumpy, you can help me get this blood off." She said tartly, turning so her back was to me. I got it wet and started carefully cleaning her off. Despite my best efforts, I sometimes struck a deep wound and she twitched in pain.

I found myself leaning closer and closer to her. _I could just lick it off, the blood's going to waste here…_ I was an inch away when she said suddenly "And no using your tongue." I cursed softly, straightening up and using the sponge again. I finally got her cleaned off, which was a relief, because I didn't know how much longer I could control myself. She twisted so she could see her over her shoulder, and said approvingly "Thanks, it feels much better." She turned all the way around and held out her hand expectantly. "Give. I can do the rest by myself." I gave it to her silently, trying not to look at her stomach, which was just as bloody as her back had been.

She pointed at the door. "Out." I grinned; glad to see she was still as lively as ever. I closed the door, reassured when I saw her brother was still asleep. I sat on my coffin and started reading the book she had given me for Christmas, which was actually rather entertaining. After a while I heard rustling and looked up to see her picking her way around her brother's bed, heading for her own backpack, where Dennis had been sleeping. She had explained to me that when she "freaked", as she called it, Dennis had immediately ran across the barrier and somehow jumped into our boat.

She talked quietly to Dennis for a while, and then moved to her own bed. I watched her fall asleep, quietly breathing in and out of her nose, not tossing and turning like most people, which I found rather cute. I went back to my book, but occasionally glanced over to see her still in that position, although I noticed she moved her hands slightly in petting motions, like she was stroking cats.

_**I thought Tetsab deserved her own incantation, so I borrowed from BlackBringer a little bit. This chapter was short, because my family has a lot of stuff they want me to do, but I have to get it out. So I'll try to write again tonight, but no promises. *Sigh* Oh, drizzt, YOU ARE AWESOME! I FINALLY HAVE ACCESS! I WILL DO ANYTHING YOU TELL ME TO FOR MY STORY! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! (I couldn't find a way to watch Hellsing Ova 2-9 until they told me)**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Really sorry about the delay on Sunday, but I had to go to a meeting for P2P. (It's a travel thing and I'm going to England this summer!) I can't delay it anymore; I'm going into the bit about Millennium soon. Sorry. But, I am going to do a sequel or maybe even a series, so don't sweat it. I get tiny giggles just imagining your reactions when you see the last chapter. You'll probably all hate me. But it was so tempting, I couldn't help myself. My characters have a way of kicking the bucket. It's just so much fun to write those scenes! I'm pretty sure only one good guy is going to die right now, but that's under debate. After all, what's the fun in having only one person die? But I'm still thinking on how to do it, so you guys are in the clear for a while. Or are you…**_

_Zara's POV:_

I woke up sometime in the afternoon to my brother shaking me. "We have to catch a train back to England, because if we take a plane Iscariot will probably catch us. We are in their territory." He said, pointing at his already packed suitcase. I nodded, sitting up and sliding out of bed. I put Dennis on the bed and zipping up my backpack, which was pretty much all the luggage I had. She jumped onto my shoulder, and I looked around for Alucard._ "He's waiting in the cab."_ Dennis mewed.

We hoisted our stuff and went out, seeing a cab with an extremely nervous driver and a very impatient Alucard. "How long does it take for you to pack?" He asked, staring at us both. We both smiled slightly. "It's not a question of packing; it's a question of getting her up." My brother said, pointing at me. I shrugged. "What can I say, I'm a deep snoozer." We opened the doors, Zan calling "Dibs on shotgun!" I sighed and slid into the back with Alucard. The cab started up, and I saw Alucard glaring at me out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

He scowled. "You had me waiting here for _ages_ with nothing to do but mess with the driver's head." Said person spoke up, saying "It was only five minutes sir, I counted." I grinned at him. "_Ages_ hmm? Poor you, I know how much disturbing the general public can tire a person out." He glared at me, and then at the driver, who lapsed into sullen silence. But as I have said before, teenagers don't _do_ silence. "Wake up on the wrong side of a box this morning?" I asked, shooting a sly glance at him. He choked and glanced at the driver, who was conversing with my brother.

"Keep your voice down, or did you forget that the general public doesn't know about vampires?" he hissed, making silencing motions with his hands. I folded my arms, looking at him loftily. "Well?" He growled, seeing I wasn't going to shut up. "I just hate getting up in the middle of the day." He said, adjusting his sunglasses. I rubbed my chin. "I was wondering something, if normal people can't stare at the sun, what would happen if you tried it?" He blinked. "Umm…" I continued. "And if normal people's eyes hurt, what would happen with you? You see better, but you hate the sun, so which would it be? Would your eyes burst into flames and melt?" He sighed in exasperation. "I don't know, because I've never tried it! Why on Earth would I want to test that out?"

I looked at him. "Scientific curiosity, why else? Silly person." He shook his head. "I don't understand you sometimes." I nodded once. "Good, if you did I'd be a bit creeped out. Even my brother doesn't get me sometimes, right bro?" We both looked at him but he was still talking to the driver. I pointed at him. "See, he agrees with me." Alucard growled. "He does not." I folded my arms. "How do you know?" He blinked. "What?" I fought the smile trying to emerge on my face. "He agrees with whatever I say, even when he doesn't know he's doing it. We made a deal, I let him play video games when I'm sleeping, and he agrees with whatever I say."

Alucard shook his head. "You're making that up." I pretended to look outraged, "I am not! Ask him." He opened his mouth and Zan said. "Yes, I agree to whatever she says. So there." He closed it again. "Beset on all sides." Remarked the driver. Alucard glared at the back of the man's head furiously, muttering to himself. "Sulky teenager." I said out of the corner of my mouth. "Don't even go there." He growled, folding his arms in a state of regal pouting. "Too bad, I just did." I said, trying very hard not to laugh. "I'll make you shut up." He said between clenched teeth.

I raised my eyebrow. "How so?" He growled "Simple. I do this." I felt a pair of gloved hands wrap around my mouth. I tried saying "Get off of me." but it came out as a mumble. I wiggled, trying to escape his grip. "Nothing to say?" he asked sarcastically, and I glared at him eloquently. He smirked and I looked away. I blinked as an idea occurred to me. I started humming, and he sighed in exasperation. "You never give up do you?" I shook my head, saying "Nope." through his hands. He removed his hands, putting them back in his lap.

I stuck my tongue at him. "Very mature" he said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I grinned. "I don't do mature either." The cab pulled to a stop by the station and I looked out of the window. The train station was very crowded, and as we got out Zan and I instinctively bunched together. As usual, Alucard didn't think _subtle _and stalked right up to the ticket booth, in full view of the general public. "I want three tickets to England, as fast as possible, please." He said, his eyes daring the man there to disagree. He nervously looked at the two of us sitting on a bench with Alucard's coffin at our feet.

"Are those your children sir?" he asked quaveringly, knowing full well we looked nothing like him. Alucard looked blank for a second, and then reached up to remove his glasses, no doubt intending to hypnotize the man. Luckily for us, I broke in. "Uncle Roger, this is taking ages!"I said, drumming my heels against the bench. I regally glared at the ticket man. "You sir, I'll report you for this. How _dare _you interrupt our trip?" I sent mental signals to Alucard. _"Iscariot isn't stupid, and if they hear of a man hypnotized they'll know exactly where we went. I got this. Just play along." _ He chuckled. "As you can see, my…niece is very strong willed. She's intent on getting back home." The man, knowing he was beaten, dropped his gaze down to Alucard's coffin.

"And your luggage? Maybe you should leave some of it behind? Forgive me, but it's very big…" He stammered to a halt as I gave him the full power of my "spoiled teenager who isn't getting what she wants" gaze. "Leave it behind? _Leave it behind?" _My voice rose like he had asked me to commit suicide. "Leave my new closet behind!? Are you _insane_?! I _need_ this new wardrobe, how else am I going to keep up with the fashions in London!?" I looked pleadingly at Alucard. "You'll get Daddy to fire this man, right Uncle?" I turned back to the ticket person, who was gaping like a landed fish. "You just wait; my Daddy is very powerful in England. He'll sue you."

The poor guy practically broke at finger shoving the tickets at Alucard. "Here, I don't care who you are, just take your tickets and go away!" We all managed to get out of hearing distance before bursting into laughter, but it was a close thing. "Uncle Roger?" Alucard asked, looking at me in displeasure. I shrugged, blushing. "It was the best I could come up with under pressure." Zan was coughing now, but it sounded suspiciously like muffled laughter. "And I'm sure your, ahem, _wardrobe _will be traveling on the car with us?" he said, trying to keep a straight face. Alucard cringed and I blushed. "I should have just hypnotized him." He muttered. I forced myself to stop smiling.

"Well, they would have tracked us, and I'm sure a little embarrassment is better than an attack, right?" I said, giving him a weak thumbs up. He glared at both of us. An awkward silence descended, which lasted until we saw our car. Yes, _our_ car. "You think I might have pushed the spoiled rich kid act a little too far?" I asked, scratching my head as Zan explored the top bunk in his own unique way. "Hey, we even get a mint on our pillow!" he yelled, grabbing the offered candy and stuffing it in his mouth. Alucard, having dropped his coffin in a convenient corner, shrugged. "I certainly don't travel like this normally." He said, sitting down on the couch.

We had two sets of bunk beds, only two of which would be in use, a minnie fridge, a tiny bathroom, and a little table with a couch for eating, which Alucard was currently occupying. Zan fell down from his perch. He held a map in shaking hands. "I," he said solemnly, "have just discovered heaven. THEY HAVE A GAMEING CAR!" he shoved the map in a pocket and ran out the door. I watched it swing on its hinges, shaking my head slowly. "He does know that it won't be open until the train is moving?" I asked. Alucard smirked. "Probably not. He'll know soon enough, anyway." An anguished scream echoed down to us from another car. We both snickered. "He does now." I said.

_Alucard's POV:_

After her brother had settled down, which took _ages_, Zara was reading in her bunk and I was still sitting on that couch. Her brother had departed once she explained that the car was open now. I looked out the window, watching city lights stream by. It was dark out, and I was starting to wonder why Zara hadn't said anything about food yet. I looked back over to her, but she had put her book down and was watching something on the computer with her headphones in. I heard a distinct growl echo through the room, and I sighed. Apparently she hadn't yet realized it was dinner time, although her stomach was complaining loudly.

I walked over, seeing her staring intently at the computer's surface. Her eyes flickered slightly, seeing me out of the corner of her eye. She yelped and fell out of the bunk, and I only barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground. "What is _wrong_ with you!?" She demanded, panting heavily. "I was about to ask you the same question." I said, helping her stand up. She blinked a couple of times. "I was reading _Crossbones_, you know, _Skeleton Creek_." I shook my head. "No clue." She sighed and held up her hand, ticking off points. "_Skeleton Creek_ is a really creepy books series about two teens who are digging up old secrets in their town."

I immediately lost interest. She saw the look on my face and hurried to continue. "They had an old mining building called the dredge at the edge of town, and a lot of people said it was haunted. So, being teens, they went to have a look." I rolled my eyes. _Teens._ "But a lot of stuff happened, and, long story short, they found the ghost, or an imposter really, but the imposter got possessed by the ghost later in the series, and the ghost turned out to be-" I cut her off. "Alright, that doesn't explain why you shrieked."

She turned the computer screen towards me, where I saw a man hunched over in a corner. The screen was grainy, like it had been shot by a phone or something. "You type in a password and it lets you see creepy videos that continue the stories. I was watching one and you suddenly loom up in my field of vision. What do you expect me to do?" I gently pushed the screen down. "Get ready for dinner. Or are you going to eat your cat?" She glared at me, and then looked over at Dennis, who was sleeping in Zan's bunk across from her. "Ha ha, very funny." She walked around me, and then paused. "So where is the dining car?"

_Zara's POV:_

One set of directions later, I was looking around the dining car, feeling a bit out of place. Zan was still in the gaming car, so we had a table to ourselves. By mutual consent, it was in a tucked away corner, where prying eyes would have trouble prying. I felt many different eyes on me anyway, and shifted uncomfortably. "Don't do that." Alucard said suddenly. I raised an eyebrow. "Do what?" He gestured, indicating my body. "Move like that." I frowned. "Why?"

My question was answered by a male waiter, who bent over our table. "Hello, what can I get such a _lovely_ young lady." He said, winking in a highly suggestive manner. I gulped. "Umm… some milk would be great." I said slowly, trying desperately not to let my disgust show on my face. I didn't need Alucard's low growl to know he was pissed as well. "Of course, and for you sir?" the man turned to Alucard, clearly trying to show him that he wanted him a thousand miles away. "Water." He said quietly.

The man turned, with another wink to me and left, his hand slightly brushing mine. I waited until he was gone before rubbing it vigorously against my pants, making a face. "Creep." I said quietly, and Alucard rumbled agreement. I flicked open my menu, scanning it. "I'm getting tomato soup." I said slyly, casting him a glance. He chuckled a little, and the tension broke. He suddenly stopped and scowled over my shoulder. I twitched, accidently knocking my spoon off the table, hearing footsteps behind me.

I bent down to retrieve it, but heard a growl and stopped in the act of picking it up. I looked up to see the creepy waiter staring down at me. I quickly sat back in my chair, turning around so I wasn't looking at him. He handed me my milk, touching me unnecessarily again, and handed Alucard his water. He left, and I saw Alucard was looking murderous. "Do I want to know?" I asked. He sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Apparently you are unaware that bending down at that angle would give him and several other males a very good view of your chest. I was _this_ close to killing them all."

I swallowed hard. "Maybe they couldn't help it, like if they were just looking in this direction and-" He cut me off. "Their thoughts weren't 'I just accidently did this'. Suffice to say, some were very perverted." I blushed crimson. I heard him mutter quietly. "You can't even _get_ in that position." under his breath. I blushed even harder. I poked at my milk. "What's the bet this is spiked with something?" I asked, trying to get to a different topic. He took it and sniffed.

"I don't think it is, but best to be safe." He said, putting it back down on the table. I sighed. "Great, now I am I not only not going to be able to eat or drink anything that guy gives me, I'm going to spend the rest of the meal being ogled at by all sorts of creepy males." Alucard cocked his head, looking confused, then he suddenly smiled. "I think I can help." I brightened immediately. "How?" He gently pulled me over into his lap before I could protest. "Like this." He said, wrapping his arms around me.

"How does this help?" I asked irritably. He grinned. "They see you with another male, and will back off." I cleared my throat. "So I traded a room full of creepy males for one very creepy male?" he grinned wider. "Pretty much." I sighed and let him hold onto me. Pretty soon that weird waiter showed up, doing a double take when he saw me in Alucard's lap. "Umm, what would you like?" he asked, shooting Alucard a poisonous look. "A tomato soup please." I chirped, feeling much more secure now that I was closer to Alucard than the waiter. He shifted causally, taking his time to decide. "I'll have what she's having." He said finally, slightly tightening his grip on me.

The waiter stalked off, looking pissed. I twisted around to face Alucard. "Ok, you have demonstrated ownership. Now get off." He smirked lazily, looking at me through half slitted eyes. "But I like being in this position with you." He purred. I glared at him. He changed tactics. "There are more people here looking at you than just that waiter." I sighed. "You just like cuddling with me." I muttered. He grinned, giving my body a gentle squeeze. "Guilty as charged."

After a bit the waiter arrived, putting both of our soups down with a slam. _"Somebody's crabby." _I thought to Alucard. _"Indeed. See what he might have done if I didn't help?"_ He thought back. I ate slowly, as he asked questions about my personal interests a lot. "What's your favorite pastime?" he asked, looking curious. I giggled a little. "Swimming. Have you ever gone swimming?" he looked confused. "When would I get the chance?" I thought about it for a moment. "Well, when you were human I suppose, or now, because you're supposed to be an all powerful vampire." He shook his head. "My country was almost completely landlocked, and not many people learned how to swim. And even with me, running water of the amount required to swim would be deadly."

I yawned, and immediately looked at the bowl in suspicion. Alucard leaned forward and sniffed both me and the plate. "Just you tired out from your ordeal, I expect. Nothing I can smell." My head dropped onto his shoulder, and the lights looked really dim and far away all of a sudden. "You…sure?" I murmured sleepily. He nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. Go to sleep, I'll look after you." I let myself fall into the comforting blackness, not even noticing it when he got up and started carrying me back to our car.

_Alucard's POV:_

I got back to our car without any problems. Those started when I realized that Zara slept in the top bunk, and I would definitely wake her up if I tried to get her up there. Zan was already asleep in the other bunk, or I would have asked him for help. Even Dennis was sleeping, on one of the bottom bunks. I sighed, and felt Zara stir against me. I looked down, hoping she might be waking up. But I sighed again when I realized she was just shifting in her sleep.

I collapsed on the tiny couch, stretching out so she could at least have some approximation of a vertical surface to sleep on. She muttered and pushed against me, seeking warmth. I chuckled a little, knowing she couldn't tell in this sleep-state that I had no body heat at all, and that pushing against me would only make her colder. I stared into space for a while, feeling her body slowly starting to heat my own. She suddenly shivered, and I quickly looked down, wondering if she was having another bad dream. She had curled up in a fetal position on top of me, wrapping both arms around herself and shivering.

I made a small sound of concern, and then realized that she was probably getting very cold, with no blanket on at all. I looked around, trying to see if there was one in reach, but there wasn't. I wasn't going to be able to get another from the bunk beds, so I was stuck. I blinked as an idea occurred to me. I carefully eased out of my red coat, draping it around her and tucking it in like a blanket. She clutched it tightly to her body, still shivering uncontrollably. After a while, she slowly stopped shivering and relaxed, her head sliding up onto my shoulder. I had resolved not to sleep, because we were still in Iscariot territory, and there might be an attack, but the quiet sound of her breathing next to my ear soothed me, and quite unintentionally I fell asleep, still cradling her in my arms.

_Zara's POV:_

I am slowly _aware_, like a cat, when I wake up. So right now I was just smelling things. I was covered by something soft and vaguely spicy scented, and it was very warm. Something very fine and silky was draped across my face, and it smelled a bit like earth, a damp patch of earth with growing things in it. I blinked slowly, seeing things, but not registering them consciously yet. I was laying on Alucard, using him as a mattress in fact, and his coat was draped over me like a blanket. His hair had fallen over my face, and his arms were wrapped around me, in what felt like a slightly protective position. His chin rested on my shoulder, and I could tell he was asleep.

I saw all of this, but it took me about three seconds to register. I turned bright red, and swallowed. He chose this exact moment to wake up. He stirred slightly, and looked at me blankly. I avoided eye contact and said quietly "I don't know why I'm snuggling with you, so don't ask." He chuckled, and I blushed even harder. He sat up, and as he was still holding on to me I was forced to sit up as well. "As it happens, I couldn't get you into the top bunk without waking you up, so I used alternative measures." He said, shifting so I was sitting on his lap rather than laying on him.

I blinked. "Oh." Was all I could think to say. He held out a hand, and I looked at it blankly. "Coat please." He said briskly. I quickly handed it over, but I sighed a little as it's warmth left me. He put his arms around me again after he put it on, rocking back and forth a little. I exclaimed in surprise. "You're _warm_." He chuckled again. "It comes of being in close contact with a person with their own body heat over several hours. Did you know you purr in your sleep?" My blush, which had been fading, returned full force. "Don't tell anyone, please," I begged him. "If Techno gets hold of it I'll never be able to show my face in public again."

He ran a hand through my hair, and I stifled a hum of pleasure as my treacherous body arched forward. "Jerk." He grinned. "I just love doing that. You respond better in your sleep through." I glared at him. "That's because I didn't know you were doing it. Now stop." He sighed. "I do have one question though. Is it involuntary?" I coughed. "Umm, yeah, why?" He smirked and ran a finger down the length of my spine. I bit back another hum as my body twisted. "I told you to stop it." He grinned. "You told me to stop when I was playing with your hair. I am not doing so."

"You know what I meant." I said, watching him carefully. He ran his hand down my back, and I felt my eyes water, trying desperately not to twist or hum. He repeated the motion, sliding his hand down my spine slowly. I breathed in short, sharp gasps, trying to hold myself back. "One more should do it." He teased, sensing my desperation. He stroked my back again, slowly, and I gave in and hummed, arching into his hand and feeling him laugh in pleasure. He stopped and I turned to face him. "Jerk." I whispered harshly, still humming a little deep in my throat.

_**I hope this makes up for my absence. I love Skeleton Creek, it's like the scariest book series ever. You may know the clip she was talking about, you know, when Ryan sees you-know-who in the subway/tunnel tour thing? Creepiest thing I've ever seen. I can take blood and guts and gore, BUT I HATE WHEN THEY DO THE SNEAK UP AND POUNCE THING! One moment he's just sitting there, divulging life-saving secrets, and then BAM! Rushes at the camera with his scary face and makes a screamy noise. Sneak up and pounce. And, bodily structure speaking, he and Alucard are built very much the same, more or less, especially if seen out of the corner of your eye. I feel so guilty…but this chapter's really long, so it makes up, right? I even managed to work romance in! One of my friends has a pressure point on her neck a bit like this, where if you touch it her entire body goes really stiff. It's so much fun to poke her and watch her tense up! It's like a Freeze Ray, only just for her. Anyway, Review, Request, R-something else, comment. (we'll just pretend comment starts with R) Auf Wedersien! **_


	21. Chapter 21

_**So Millennium is finally showing up. Sorry, but again, it'll just be the end of this fanfic, not the actual story. 37 reviews, I'm glad! You guys haven't been reviewing as much, but then again, I haven't been putting up such great chapters lately. I shall be slowing down a little bit, to improve chapter quality. I'll probably be doing every other day, if I really am busy, but I might be doing it every day as well. Ok then, umm… I think that's it as far as important before-chapter info goes. Oh wait, I just wanted to say, I have nothing against the Captain/werewolf guy, it's just he makes such a threatening image sometimes; I thought this would really work for someone he hated.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I had woken up just as the sun was rising, apparently, and I made a small noise of complaint when it hit my eyes. Alucard looked up, and turned so he was facing the sun and I was in his shadow, uttering a small grunt of pain when the sunbeams hit him. "You don't have to do that, in fact, you can let go of me now." I protested. Far from letting go, he tightened his grip so that I was pressed up against him even more than before. "No. I am still demonstrating ownership." I wiggled, trying to squirm out of his grip, although I had no success. "To whom?" He shrugged carelessly. "Anyone who might be watching. We are still in Iscariot's territory."

I sighed and let myself fall back, since struggling wasn't getting me anywhere. "Can I have a book while you're demonstrating?" He reached behind his shoulder, and pulled a random book out of my bag. "_Warriors_. Seems an odd name for a cat book." He said, looking at the cover. He gave it to me and I cracked him over the head with it. "Hey!" he protested, rubbing his head. I stuck my tongue out as him as I opened the book. "None may insult the great series of Erin Hunter." I turned away from him and started reading. Thankfully, he grabbed a super edition, so it was pretty big.

I didn't even notice when he leaned forward, reading the book with me, I was so absorbed. He shifted position, holding me down with one hand as he scanned the same lines I was reading. What I did notice, however, was a faint tinkling sound. I looked down, and immediately blushed. I wasn't blushing because he was fiddling with my necklace. That was perfectly fine; he had made it and had every right to touch it. Some people need something for their hands to do when their reading something, or watching something, after all, and he might be one of them. The line was drawn, however, when the necklace rested just above my cleavage.

Alucard was running the chain through his fingers, sometimes curling his hand around the pendant and rubbing it with his thumb. I cleared my throat nervously. "Hmm?" he said, jerking his head up from a reading position. I knew I was bright red, but I was more concerned about something else right now. "Move your hand please." I said, blushing brighter. He looked down, and immediately jerked his hand away from my chest. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry." He said, blushing slightly. "I didn't even know I was doing it." I rubbed my necklace compulsively. "Yeah, umm, ok."

He was actually disturbed enough to let me go and sit up. I quickly scrambled off. I stood up, facing towards him. "I'm going to go take a shower." I said, and then speed-walked towards the bathroom. I didn't slam the door, but it was a close thing. I took a deep breath, facing the mirror. _So that happened._ I pushed my hair back, seriously hoping Dennis was not awake to see any of this.

I stripped my clothes off and jumped in the tiny shower, turning the water to hot. I rubbed shampoo in my hair, thinking things over slowly. _Fact Number one, I and Tetsab were designed to kill him for most of my childhood. Fact Number two, he has expressed emotions for me. Fact Number three, Dennis will not like it if he takes this too far. Time for speculation. His slight attraction to me may or may not be caused by something the Major did. If so, it's in my best interest to ignore it. If not, I have no idea how to handle this. _I sighed. That was the whole problem. If he was actually interested in me, and it had nothing to do with the Major, I had no idea what to do.

Cats, birds, mice, rats, everyone had the same policy when you were an animal. Get pregnant, raise babies, defend babies. Defend mate if necessary. Affections didn't really enter into it much. Now with _humans_, who, of course, couldn't do things the simple way if it killed them, relationships were much more complicated. Pack loyalty was about as far as affection went for other mammals. Humans formed cliques and friends and gangs, and flitted from boy/girlfriend like moths. And, being human, I had to use human forms of connection. And I had no clue how to do that.

I stepped out, toweling my hair. I put on my clothes, noticing that all my knives were still on me. I walked out of the bathroom, noticing that Alucard was not on the couch. I was feeling a little jumpy, namely because last time I had gotten out of a shower with no one there I had been kidnapped. I felt someone grab me and almost screamed, but relaxed (slightly) once I saw it was Alucard. He was holding me close to his body, and I _felt_ him grin. "Why so jumpy?" he asked, gently sniffing my hair.

I pulled away best I could. "Last time no one was around and I got out of the shower I was kidnapped." I said, looking at him in confusion as he sniffed my hair again. He noticed the look and smirked. "When most people take showers, they cover their hair in nasty, sticky sweet conditioner and such, but you never do. I can smell _you_ after you take a shower, not some perfume." I rolled my eyes. "I lose my smelling ability considerably when I put scented shampoo and stuff on my head. I take it my smell agrees with you?" I said tartly. His eyes fluttered closed and he breathed in deeply. "Mmm. Lemons."

"I smell like lemons?" I said sarcastically. I flinched when he nuzzled my neck, still with his eyes closed. "Lemons. Herbs. Like tea, or a kitchen garden on a warm day. Your blood tastes like it too." He muttered, sighing happily. I shoved at him and he backed off, at least a little. "Idea established, I smell like tea. Moving on please. You need to sleep anyways." He shook his head. "I do not." I folded my arms, which is pretty tricky when someone's holding on to you. "When was the last time you had a good, long, all-day sleep in your coffin?"

He opened his mouth, and then closed it, frowning in concentration. "A week." He said finally, looking resentful. I pointed at his coffin. "Then get in there this instant. I'll just be in the gaming car, sabotaging the system for my brother." He sighed, looking down at me, no doubt assessing whether or not I could. "Fine. Wake me up when you get back." He let me go and phased into his coffin. I brushed myself off, quickly writing a note to my brother as I went to the specified car.

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

When Zara got to the car, she stopped and frowned. It was dark, and although that may be natural for most game rooms, this one should have been bright. She sniffed, but Alucard's scent had clung to her and she could smell nothing. She stepped in carefully, reaching to her leg for a hidden dagger. Her caution was justified when the door slammed shut. She quickly backed up, slamming into it with no effect. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for any attackers. Moans filtered through the room, and the overhead lights flickered, showing, briefly, a room full of ghouls.

Zara crouched on the ground, throwing knives at the ghouls, watching them burst into ashes. Groans and moans filled the air as they shuffled towards her, arms reaching. Her eyes flicked towards the walls and ceiling, assessing, processing, planning. No escape, no windows, door locked, hatch overhead, nonexistent. She was trapped. Ghouls reached for her, and she slashed and spun, trying to evade the clutching hands. They dropped, grunting in pain as they slowly dissolved from her blessed silver. A bloody hand grabbed he neck and she gagged, slashing at her attacker.

The ghoul dropped, tearing her necklace off as it fell and crumbled into dust. Other hands grabbed at her arms and legs, slowing her fatally. Eventually they had her more or less pinned, although they couldn't attack her without her escaping. She struggled violently, knowing this was only a temporary impasse. Suddenly, gunshots rang out and the ghouls dropped. She lay there, breathing heavily as she saw a looming figure lean down. Red eyes stared into purple as she slowly smiled. "Hey, welcome back. Here I thought you were killed _once and for all_." She snarled, spitting on the man's impassive face. The werewolf grabbed her neck, hauling her upright and slamming her against the wall.

_Alucard's POV:_

I stretched, feeling much better now I had a decent sleep. I pushed my coffin open, looking around to see that night had fallen. I frowned. Zara should have been back by now. Zan was staring at a note, lips working like he was reading something impossible. I stood up and snatched it from him, not even hearing his protests as I read. _"I'm going to go to the gaming car to mess with your games, so don't sweat it. However, I'll be back by lunch. Zara." _Below that, was a very different message. _"We thank you for finding out test subject. However, we shall be taking it in custody now. M." _

"Maxwell." Zan snarled, face working as he tried to control his anger. I slammed the note down on the table. "I'm going to see the game car." I said, phasing through the walls. When I got there, however, it was locked. I phased through, seeing ghoul-dust scattered across the floor. Silver knives were scattered here and there, but there was no sign of Zara. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to pick them all up, swearing under my breath and imagining just what I would do to Maxwell at our next meeting. My hand suddenly paused at a shiny gleam.

I put my hand under the chair, grabbing Zara's cat necklace by the chain. I stared at it, wondering. I could find out what she was thinking, in the last few moments before she took it off. I touched it gently, bracing myself for the flood of images. _Ghouls, blood, a flash of silver, moans. Where's the out! More blood, and a hand. No! No, I have to focus. I can pick it up after I beat these corpses. _The images faded, but I caught a glimpse of someone's face, and almost dropped the necklace in surprise. _Werewolf Captain. Not again._ The thoughts and images stopped, and I growled.

_Millennium, back._ I shook my head. How had they survived? Seras had recalled piercing his heart with silver, and there was no way he could have lived through that. I phased back to our car, and silently handed Zan the necklace. "It was Millennium. Not Iscariot." He whimpered and Dennis hissed, finally awake. _"They will not find her such easy prey this time. My kit has learned a few tricks since she escaped."_ Zan wrapped his arms around his knees, rocking back and forth. "But she always said it was a miracle we survived the first time!" he wailed, already lapsing back into hopelessness.

_Zara's POV:_

I almost blacked out, and felt like Alucard was phasing with me again. All misty and corporal. I almost vomited, but I swallowed hard. I heard a familiar voice saying. "Well, well, velcome back fraulien. It has been many years since our last meeting, hasn't it?" I swayed, stumbling away from the Captain. I put my head in my hands, not caring they saw this small weakness. "Ya, it seems the effects affect everyone." Doc said, looking at the Captain, who nodded silently. I glared at them both. "What, cat got your tongue?" I asked him snippishly. He growled and backhanded me into the wall.

Doc peered down at me through his glasses. "It seems you haven't changed your manners either." I spat a little blood out of my mouth. "I can do better. I am positive that you are the most stupid man I have ever met in my entire life. In the time I've known you, you have demonstrated every loathsome characteristic of the human personality and even discovered a few new ones. You are physically repulsive, intellectually retarded, you're morally reprehensible, vulgar, insensitive, selfish, stupid, you have no taste, a lousy sense of humor and you smell. You're not even interesting enough to make me sick. How's that?"

He gritted his teeth. "You sentence structure has improved I see." I laughed. "Yeah, remember when I could only call you "ugly-desperate-transvestite-whore"? Those were the days." He coughed, obviously trying to control himself. "How did you learn those words anyway?" I waved a casual hand, slowly sitting up. "The soldiers, Zorin, you know. So are you going to torture me now, or are we going to say hi to the Major first?" He glared at me, then gestured at the Captain. "Major." I shook my head. "No, sorry, both answers were invalid. Bye!" I jumped up, evading the Captain's lunge and using Doc's chest as a spring board and tumbling into the vent system. I crawled away rapidly, knowing my old friend the Captain would be after me soon. I heard swearing in German underneath me and smiled.

_Alucard's POV:_

Integra had been informed of the situation, and was currently pouring out reasons for my death into my ears. I wasn't paying attention, so it caught me by surprise when I found she was starting to say relevant things. "And furthermore, you are not to let her brother out of your sight for the entire rest of the trip back, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" I nodded. "Yes master. I will." She continued. "Good. Apparently the Major has sent you a video, which can be accessed via Zara's computer. Watch it, and record it for further evidence." The line clicked off. I put the phone back in my pocket and sat down on the couch, grabbing Zara's computer and powering it up.

A single file popped up and I clicked on it. An image flickered on, and I quickly pushed record. The disgusting Major sat in a chair on what looked like the bridge room of a zeppelin, smiling. "Ah, Alucard, I was vondering if you were going to be the one to see this. As you are no doubt questioning, I am alive. Or rather, I, the Doctor, and the Captain are. Well really, if you're pushing for technicalities, our copies are." He paused, leering at me. "So, you may be asking yourself why I have chosen to reveal myself so soon in the game."

"The reason for this is simplicity itself. The Doctor's copy can create as many clones of us as necessary, until you are overrun, although rather unfortunately, the machines we used burned out trying to re-create Schrödinger. His DNA, which was hard enough to extract, made it impossible for us to clone him. A temporary setback, but one that is already fixed. We made new machines, which cloned new versions of us, and we have each a chip implanted deep within us, that will activate once we die, signaling the need for new clones."

"But still, this is a setback. Schrödinger ist dead, and his method proved less than effective against you. So, on to a new plan. I believe you are familiar with the one I mention? The Pazúry family, of course. Such a _marvel_." He paused again, taking in a deep breath. "The Hellsings are nothing to them. Thousands upon _thousands _of years of occult knowledge, branching down to ancient Egypt and beyond. The sheer amount of data, the overwhelming power of the knowledge they have gathered over the years, there is no compare. But, such knowledge comes at a price."

He wagged a finger at the screen, and I gritted my teeth, trying not to show emotion. "A certain spirit was bound into the clan, a savage und untamable one. They tamed it, and it has served them, _to this day._ But again, the power came at a price. The price was a very small one, just one life every ten years or so. They have no way around this, it is inevitable. A baby is born, und dies soon after. That is the most she takes. The parents grieve, and they get a new child. Life moves on for them, but the child after is something special. They get a portion, a very _small_ portion, a tiny sip really, of the demon's power. A better nose, or eyes, or very occasionally, shape-shifting."

He sighed in longing. "The gene carries itself on, a few generations down the line und stops. But sometimes, they breed vampire hunters of incredible power when genes combine. They family _is_ very large, although vampires have reduced it considerably these past few centuries. In fact, only two members have survived. You know them, I know you do. The girl, Zara, and her brother are _incredible_. Her brother is normal, of course, but her, now she ist something special. She ist the second child of her parents, and the lucky combination of many different genes. This, alone, would not be enough to even come close to being worthy of our backup, but we had discovered a way to bind the spirit in a single form."

"So, it was done. But she had been bound against her inner nature, by some form of spell we could not break. The experiments started, and her power grew. You have no _idea_, you see, of the simple raw power she wields. Schrodinger, Anderson, the Captain, even you yourself are all weaklings compared to her. Combined, you could do nothing. Allied, you could do nothing. Her power ist the roaring rage of Nature itself, the power of the earthquake, the hurricane, the tornado, the firestorm. _All bound within a weak human shell_! Hehe, it gives me goosebumps just to think about it."

I clenched my fists, trying very hard not to snap and do something I would regret. "But of course, there was the pesky human nature to get rid of first. We tried for years, but never quite succeeded. Then, revelation! A certain creature, taking on the form of a cat, was seen lurking about. We captured it, and we eventually found it was the binding mechanism's lock, to put it crudely. The spirit had divided itself, or it had servants, und they watched over the clan's branches, and died as they died. She was the only one left. She controlled the power flooding the girl, making sure it could not be released in full form."

"So, our course of action seemed rather simple. Blood for blood, just as it was no doubt traded centuries before. We were so close, so nearly close, but, foolishly, our originals decided to stop und focus on the main plan. She escaped with her brother. But I was going to have Doc bring her here, und he ist late." He yanked down a microphone. "Doc? Hello, Doc?" The Doctor burst into the room, clutching a wound in his leg as he hobbled in. "Goodness me, did she do that to you?" The major asked, looking interested. The man nodded blankly, trying to focus.

The werewolf burst in, dragging a limp bundle behind him. I felt a pain in my chest when I saw it was Zara. Major brightened immediately. "Ah, Captain, you found her. Where on earth did she go this time?" He pointed silently to the ceiling. "The vents?" He nodded slowly. "Vell, good job finding her. How is the fraulien?" He walked over to her. I saw her move suddenly, whipping a knife out and lashing towards his chest. The werewolf immediately grabbed her left arm, the one not holding the knife, and jerked. She choked, eyes rolling up in her head, following his movement desperately, as if she was afraid he would do further damage to it.

He held her dangling in the air, watching her scrabble at his hand frantically. "Captain, do you still hold a grudge for what she did to your original?" the Major said teasingly. Doc looked her up and down. "Do you need to even ask that, Herr Major? I'm surprised she's still conscious. Cutting her up a little, breaking an arm, that I can understand. But holding her up by that self-same arm is a bit extravagant." The werewolf pointed to the Major. "Yes, she was going to attack me, but grabbing a broken limb and using it as a lever _is_ going a bit far." The major said indulgently.

The werewolf dropped Zara, watching her hold her broken arm to her chest, silent tears of pains leaking from the corner of her eyes. "Great choice of bodyguard Major. He's like a trained ape, only without the training." She said, voice shaking with pain. The Major looked at her, smiling. "You think so?" She tried nodding, and immediately winced. "I know so. It must be great to be you, you're so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence other people have to suffer through." I couldn't help but laugh, causing them all to look at the screen.

The Major waved a hand at me. "Yes, there he is, the reason for all you're suffering. Say hello, fraulien." She gave me a weak peace sign. "Hey Alucard. Where's my brother?" I looked over my shoulder. "Rocking in a corner and muttering to himself." She hung her head. "Oh. Tell everyone I said hi." I nodded. "I will." The major laughed. "Yes, say hello to all her little friends. I would greatly enjoy them all coming over to rescue her, if they could indeed find her." The screen clicked off. I sat there, trying to think of where on earth Zara could be right now.

_**I was looking online for insults, and the first one she used on Doc was from **__**The Witches of Eastwick, whatever that is. I thought it was cool. Doc is just really at the receiving end of this, isn't he? Actually, most of the insults are from this website that has a "33 Geeky Insults" tab, or some such blah blah. Google **__insults for doctors__** and I think it's the second one down. Some are really funny. To clear things up, in case you were confused, the captain broke her arm **__before__** she tried to slice the Major. Don't worry, I have something very gruesome for all of them prepared. It's going to be awesome! Review, Request, etcetera, etc. (remember comment starts with R too) Auf Wedersien!**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**THE ROBINS ARE BACK! The snow melted, so my little creepy stalker army is back in business. This may not seem weird to you people, I mean after all, it is spring, and they're probably looking for a good nesting site. My yard does have a lot of trees. And multiple different alley cats. And a housecat who made his living from hunting birds. And a bunch of hungry coyotes lurking around the edges of the cornfield. You see why I am confused when there are thirty-three trillion of the feather dusters in my yard and driveway? Well, to be fair, my cat is fat and slow, but he used to make a killing (No pun intended) killing small prey animals. This is definitely going to be a two day chapter, because the computer had a major, blue-screen-of-death (this is a technical term at my mom's office), spark-spewing, apocalyptic virus attack or something, so I had to wait to use it. And of course, I had to study for tomorrow's math test, because if I don't have to retake it mom will give me Soul Eater #10. Awesome as Hellsing is, Soul Eater comes first. So, I got this at seven something. PM. So yeah, two-day chapter. She's being really sarcastic in this chapter, which is her reaction to pain. The major's voice is really squeaky in the English dub, I don't care what you say. Nothing else really, I need to get this going.**_

_Zara's POV:_

Agonizing pain shot through me as I tried to shift position. After I had made it a little way into the vents, they collapsed, which, although a fascinating strategic defense, would be much more appreciated somewhere I wasn't escaping from. Doc was in the room below me, and I managed to give him a good one in the leg before my dear old werewolf friend (this is sarcasm) burst into the room. Clearly, there were no hard feelings for our first meeting. Five punches from him confirmed this, because if there were grudges… well, actually, I was pretty sure he still hated my guts. I sliced at him, and he backed off, at least for about a second, then whipped his leg up and connected solidly with my arm. I had immediately dropped my knife, but grabbed it with the other hand and tried gutting him.

That didn't blow over so well either. He moved so fast even my cat eyes had trouble tracking him and just about sliced my torso open, which was avoided by me skipping backwards. Blood sprayed from my stomach and ribs as I hacked, trying to think things, other than _"OWDAMNYOUSONOFA(insert polite word of choice)I'LLGETYOUFORTHAT!" _His bloody fist connected solidly with my sternum(This is right in the middle of the chest for people who haven't taken health) and I blacked out. I woke up to the cheerful sensation of being on fire, trampled by an elephant, and bowels being impaled all around the area of my chest and arm, which I was pretty sure was broken.

These thoughts had been driven out of my head, as I saw Mr. JerkMcjerky himself standing there, looking at me. I lashed out, thanking my self-imposed rule of _never drop your weapon_ that had provided me with this chance. But, sadly, I was stopped and hung from my broken limb, which was telling me in no uncertain terms what it thought of this experience. I bit back a screech of pain, and scrabbled at the Captains arm, trying to get him to drop me. I heard voices, but they were faint and distant compared to the mind-rending screams of "OW!" coming from my arm.

He suddenly dropped me, and I clutched my arm, feeling the pain-tears leak out of my eyes. "Great choice of bodyguard Major. He's like a trained ape, only without the training." I said, knowing my voice shook, but insulting him made me feel better. He smiled, _smiled_ at me, and I just about attacked him again, broken arm or no. "You think so?" he said in that stupid, squeaky voice. "I know so. It must be great to be you, you're so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence other people have to suffer through." I said, trying to nod affirmably.

I heard a familiar laugh, and looked frantically around, hoping Alucard was here somewhere. I was crushed when I saw him on a computer screen, which was apparently videoing me and sending the message to him. "Yes, there he is, the reason for all you're suffering. Say hello, fraulien." The Major said, gesturing towards him. I glared. _There is no way that will work on me bucko. _I gave him a weak peace sign. "Hey Alucard. Where's my brother?" He looked over his shoulder, as if checking on something and my heart sank. "Rocking in a corner and muttering to himself."

I sagged, knowing he was having another mental breakdown without me there to calm him down. I was like oil to his troubled waters, I just made everything better for him for some odd reason. I shuddered, remembering when I had "left" for almost a year, and when he came to rescue me, I almost didn't recognize him, he was so messed up. "Oh. Tell everyone I said hi." I said, trying to push away the past. Alucard nodded, bringing my attention back to him. "I will." I thought I heard some kind of other emotion in his voice, but the Major broke my concentration. "Yes, say hello to all her little friends. I would greatly enjoy them all coming over to rescue her, if they could indeed find her."

The camera turned off, and they all faced me again. I sighed, already preparing myself for what was to come. "So, who's up first?" I asked brightly, wrapping my arms around my legs and leaning back. "Captain's already had a bash at me, but Doc is probably waiting to see how I react to a sneeze or something, and you're _much_ to important (this was sarcasm again) to involve yourself in things like torture." Doc and the Major grinned, and they both walked out of the room. "Captain, don't kill her, remember." The Major said. I looked at the Captain, who was staring impassively at me again.

I remembered a little of the fight after, which was mostly comprised of me trying not to scream in agony more than once and him trying to incur as much damage as possible without actually killing me. About an hour or so later, I vaguely remembered him dragging me to this cell and throwing me in. _Literally._ So, right now, I was mostly concerned with not screaming, and finding a position that was comfortable. Alucard would have recognized me immediately, but he was familiar with my blood scent. Anyone else would have never known that the bloody mess of broken bones and torn muscle was human, much less Zara Pazúry.

I started to drift off to sleep, which was surprisingly easy, considering most of me was an open wound. But hey, I've had practice falling asleep when other people would be screaming their heads off in pain. I started dreaming, but something was off. It was like I was in some kind of psycho's paint room, with splatters of color everywhere and shifting lights and sound. "Where in the heck am I?" I wondered out loud. _"Where do you think?"_ A voice behind me said teasingly, and I immediately whipped around and punched him in the face.

_Through_ the face, actually. I brought my fist back out, wiping blood and bits of brains on my pant leg. But since this was Schrödinger, he was fine. His face pulled back together, and I waited until he had a working mouth again before bursting out. "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!? AND DON'T GIVE ME THAT EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE CRAP! WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD!?" He snickered. "Silly girl, after Alucard consumed me, I was no longer evervhere and novhere. I am only a figment in your imagination."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Well I imagine you get run over by a truck." I waited hopefully, but no speeding semi mowed him down. "Alright, I have three questions. Why are you here, how can I get you out, AND WHY AREN'T YOU RUN OVER!?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Vell, let me explain. Your mind birthed this form, because I vas still stuck in it from a long time ago. I have manifested now, because I felt you needed support." He put an arm over my shoulders. "Go Team Kitty!" he said enthusiastically.

I froze. Only three people were allowed to put an arm on me, and he wasn't one of them. Techno could because he was my friend since I broke out from Millennium . Zan could because he was my brother. Alucard could because I couldn't get him off when he decided to do it. "GET OFF ME!" I yelled, and he jumped and backed away. "Vhat? I'm just showing you support." He said, giving me a thumbs up. I could practically _feel_ the rage smoking off me. "I don't need you, I don't want you, in fact, I wish YOU DIED WHEN ALUCARD ATE YOU!" He looked hurt.

"Vhy are you being so hostile?" My eye twitched. "Gee, maybe it's because, oh I don't know, YOU'RE THE REASON MY LIFE GOT TORN APART! YOUR BOSS TURNED ME INTO A FREAK AND IT WAS YOUR PATHETIC PUSSINESS THAT FAILED THE JOB! YOU MADE ME LEAVE BEHIND A PAYNG JOB, AND FRIENDS, AND PEOPLE WHO CARED ABOUT ME AND SET ME UP TO DIE IN A HELLHOLE! Who wouldn't be just a weensy bit hostile?" He shrugged. "Technically, none of zat vas me. I vas just your predecessor. Wouldn't I be just a bit hostile to you in some circumstances? You vere my _replacement_."

Ok, he kinda had me there. "In an ideal world, I would have never heard of you creeps, you would have happily destroyed Alucard and died, and I would just be a normal maybe-vampire hunter for my family. But sadly, things didn't turn out that way." I said, turning away from him. He jumped in front of me. "Danke. That's how I vould have liked it too. But, zey didn't. So, vhat would you like to happen now?" I sighed. "Really?" He nodded, looking neutral for once. I rubbed the back of my head. "I want this to be over. I want Millennium dead and gone, no offense, since you're pretty much dead already, and I want this to _stop_."

I slowly curled up in a ball, sinking into melancholy. "I want it to be _gone_. Even if I somehow manage to kill these clones, they have more. They'll just keep coming after me." I sniffed, feeling something wet trickle down my cheeks. "They'll just hurt me more and more and more, until I die. And when I die they'll bring me back and hurt me more!" I sobbed, tears running freely now. Schrödinger looked alarmed. He patted my back. "Now, it vill be alright." He said, trying to calm me down. When I didn't he panicked a little bit. "Please calm down!' he wailed, now crying a little bit as well. "You never cried, not even vhen zey vere ripping you to shreds! Not even vhen zey vere experimenting. Not even vhen zey vere trying to kill your brother! You shrieked und wailed und screamed, but you never _cried_. Please stop!"

I took a deep, hiccupping breath, and stopped. He tried a little smile, seeing he needed to go further. "You vere so strong." He said, trying to encourage me. "The soldiers, they vere amazed. They tried to fit your example." My eyes started to water again and he realized that that was probably not the best comfort. "But they never could. You know vhy?" he said quickly, trying to change the subject. I looked up at him, trying to master my emotions. "You vere the one who vould not give up." He said, trying frantically to think how I was better than them. "Almost anyone else, zey vould have given up long since. Even your brother gave up, in a way."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "Yeah, thanks Schrö." I said hoarsely. He gave me a thumbs up, already past the whole crying incident. "You're a survivor, after all." He said, grinning. I nodded. "Tears waste water. Crying wastes energy and emotions I don't have to spare." He rolled his eyes. "Back to normal." I pushed my hair back and stood up. "So why are you here, really? Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." He sat down, on an out of nowhere appearing couch. "Hey, how come you can influence my mind and I can't?" I asked, sitting down by him. He smirked. "Zis is my part of your mind. You, technically, are nothing but za host for it."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Truth now?" He leaned back, kicking his legs up. "I think ve should team up." I sat there, stunned. He carried on. "You know nothing about Major's plans, vere I know much. I could help you." I closed my eyes. "Falls down on three counts. One, I hate your guts. Two, I know you have no real reason for helping me. Three, you're _dead_, and not only dead, you're a figment of my imagination. He smirked and held up his hands, ticking off points. "One, I know you are so desperate you'll accept help even from me. Two, I am technically stuck in your mind, so if you die, I go too. Which is also Three, I _am_ a figment of your imagination, but I'm one zat influences the physical vorld."

I put my head in my hands. "Fine. Help me. What do you think I should do now?" He clapped his hands excitedly, jumping up and dancing around me. "Vonderful! I knew you vould say yes! First, ve need to get you healed. Can't do much from vhere I am now until then." I put my hands on my hips. "And how am I supposed to do that?" He stopped skipping round. "Oh. Umm…" he stared into space, a frown of concentration on his face. "Ummm…." I rolled my eyes. _Genius strikes again._ He snapped his fingers. "Ich habe es!" I blinked. "Got what? Remember, my German is limited." (He said "I got it", for those less germaniaclly inclined.)

"You heal yourself." He said proudly, glowing with pleasure. Not literally, that would be weird, but he almost pulled it off. I rapped his skull with my knuckles. "Earth to Schrödinger, I can't heal more than a small cut, and when I do, I pass out." He rubbed his head, looking crestfallen. "But you used to-" I cut him off. "I know what I used to. But I don't want my personal problems coming out within a three-thousand mile distance from these creeps, and that's only if they're underground." Before I could stop him, he whapped me upside the head. "Don't be ridiculous. Zey know all about it already."

_**The robins are gone again, 'cause it snowed! Happy! Forty-One reviews, I has another happy! Oh, xVentressx, I'm almost to the Romanian bit. You thought I forgot, didn't you? Nope, I got a mind like a rusty steel trap. An idea gets in with difficulty, but once it's in there it's going to take heck of a lot to get it out. Again, I have no hates towards the Captain and Schrö, they just are good scapegoats. (That means they're easy to put blame or shame on. [Not that kind of shame, really you people]) You people have not been Requesting. Shame. Shame upon you all. :( So anyway, please ask me to do something, and I'll work it in. I swear, I really will. No matter how stupid you think it is, go ahead, shoot. What's more stupid than me, hogging the family computer to write non-realistic stories (Story) and ignoring my F in math that means I'm a dead man (girl)? And I'm listening to the Creepy Doll song by Jonathan Coulton (whoever that is, but he's creepy) YouTube the lyrics, you'll see. I got plenty of comments (which starts with R, remember) and obviously there are Reviews, but you aren't asking me for anything. Alright, I'll come clean, I'm running out of ideas for filler-in before the big parts and I need your help. One can only go so far on fanatical desperation. How else do you think I'm writing a whole chapter each day? (Less now, because ideas are slowing down) Even when this is finished and I have moved on to the next one, I still need ideas. Go on, tell me to do something. Auf Wedersien! **_

_**PS: ANYTHING! **_


	23. Chapter 23

_**On we go, with no real ideas in sight for me yet. I got some new ones from reading the last couple chapters, but I can't keep going forever. So this is probably another two-day chapter, sorry. I think the end is calling my name, so hurry up and give me ideas! Pretty please with bribery on top? **_

_**Flameslavier, thanks for the idea, it was all I needed for a brand new kickstart. You rock! See, give me an idea, and I take it and run.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I stared at Schrödinger. "Umm… ok. So, what, exactly, is your grand master plan for getting rid of Millennium?" He was looking in a completely different direction, and jumped at the sound of my voice. _He's even more bipolar than he used to be._ "I vas rather hoping you'd come up with one." He said, looking surprised. I smacked my head. "Ideally, I'd call Techno and have him disable the wires or something, and even more ideally, he and the rest of my friends would come and help kill the Major. But, _things don't turn out like that_, do they?"

He perked up. "I'm your cat! I can be evervhere and novhere at once in your mind, right? You have a connection with your brother, ya? I can use that to get a message through!" I sighed, patiently, I might add. "He's, for lack of a better term, gone cuckoo. Can you still reach him?" Schrödinger winced. "Ok, then, no." I felt annoyed. "Well, look at mister clever clogs. Something you can't do." He glared at me and I felt myself waking up. I immediately bit back a scream of pain as I tried to jolt upright.

Sleeping with most of your body an open wound is not a good idea. This is doubly true when there are broken bones. Also when you were sleeping on a cold, hard, stone floor. So basically, my position, although comfortable when falling asleep, was nowhere near comfortable now. Apparently, if you sleep for a really long time on a stone floor, your blood will dry and scab over. Which itches, but that wouldn't be so bad. The bad part was, it would also dry and stick to the floor. In essence, I was blood-glued to the floor, and let me tell you, you have not experienced self-pain until you wake up stuck to a floor by your own blood. Especially if you try and move.

I took deep breaths, trying to figure out how to unstick myself. I sighed, knowing there was only one way out of this. Quickly, like ripping off a bandage, I tried to sit up. The important part being _tried_. With a wet, tearing sound, I came partially unstuck from the floor. I arched my back, biting my lip to keep from screaming until my vocal chords wore out. Blood, from newly open wounds, dripped down my back. I jerked upright, ignoring the sheer amount of mid-ripping pain that followed. I stood up, shakily, and wobbled over to a chair, the only furniture in my cell. I put my head in my hands, trying to not think about the giant pool of spongy semi-dried blood with a vaguely human-shaped clear patch in the middle.

I looked down at myself instead. Bad mistake. I could see bone, blood, and tissue, and I was only looking at my hand. The rest of me was just blood-covered fabric interspaced with larger patches of torn flesh and crunched bone. Again, barest minimum for survival. Even if I hadn't talked to Schrödinger, I would totally have healed myself. At least partially. A couple hours later, I had working bones, although they were still sore, and most of my wounds were scabbed over. It wouldn't take much to open then, but I could make sudden movements without bleeding out. Life was looking up.

_Alucard's POV:_

Zan was actually calmer when I took the necklace, so when all was dark and quiet; I spent my time looking at it. Thinking. _What will I do about her?_ It was certainly a puzzling question. Those times when I had, as she had put it, snuggled with her, were complete accidents. But, no matter how I looked at it, I knew I was beginning to have _feelings_ for her. After hundreds of years without them, it was distinctly out of place. And those accidents had been very entertaining. Opposing thoughts chased around and around in my head. _What do I do about her?_ I asked myself, but I couldn't answer.

I had no way of confirming if she was or was not interested. She seemed to dislike me, but when she woke up next to me, she didn't immediately castrate me with a silver dagger, which I had completely expected. In fact, I could only smell her confusion. She had _blushed_. When I had played with her necklace… I swallowed. When I realized I was only a few inches away from a _very_ forbidden spot, I not only expected to be castrated with silver, but to be blinded and who knows what else. But again, she had not retaliated. She had gotten up, and walked away. Very _quickly, _blushing, but she had not even contributed a biting remark.

I felt hopelessly confused. She either liked me or not, or thought of me as an annoying-friend sort of thing. I didn't even know which option I preferred. There was no _possible_ way she could have feelings for me; after all, I had shot her in the leg, kidnapped her, basically gotten her thrown off a cliff, and annoyed her on a daily basis, but… I had given her that cat necklace, and helped clean the blood off of her when we got her back from Iscariot. I had helped her with the males in the dining car, and I knew what they would have done to her if their interest had not been averted. It was all so hopelessly confusing. I would tell her when we saved her, and see how things went from there. That would be the end of that. I _hated_ being confused like this.

_Techno's POV:_

Ok, so after Zan got the call from Zara, and he and Alucard went off to do the whole charging cavalry thing, Integra, umm, _suggested_ that we take a little vacation. So, here the H.D. was, stuck somewhere in _Russia_. Right on the Black Sea. Quite _why_ we were _here_, no one seemed to know. It was probably a mix-up with plane tickets. Anyway, as second in command, now first in command until Zara got back, everything like that was now my fault. So I whipped out a map of Europe, which is pretty small. I mean, in North America, everything was so much bigger. Here, it was blink and you've just crossed a major country.

"Ok, umm, here's us and here's England." I said, pointing at it on the map. "We want to get back to England. So, if we take a boat or something, and we cut across the Black Sea here…" I traced our rout out on the map. Much of the travel we planned included stealing, but since most of us had been stealing for food most of our young lives, we didn't care much. I grinned. "Well, who's up for a little trip?" Everyone looked at the map, crowding close. My finger was dead set on a small country. We all started smirking. "Romania here we come!" yelled Adit.

"I wanna get some Dracula stuff to tick off Alucard!" Auger said, who had somewhat picked up on this fine art. Maniac sighed. "Just cut me some of those prime forest action. I want to see if I can make a bomb or something out of plants, going green and all that, you know?" I folded the map up. "Alright, all those who say Romania raise your right hand and begin smacking random bystanders while yelling "I HAVE ISSUES!" with your left, ok?" Shortly afterward, we were alone in the park and the last shouts had died down. Democracy is just wonderful, isn't it? Philistines.

_***Time Skip***_

One hour and several dozen petty crimes later, we were all on a boat to the east coast of Romania. Twenty or so of us all on one tiny fishing thingy. Yeah, twenty hyped-up teens with stolen cash, several politely acquired passports, and a whole mess of candy. That would go well. Thankfully, they kicked us overboard when land was in sight, but it was a near thing. My heart had been in my mouth the whole time. It had to share mouth-space with a dozen Snickers bars, a Kitkat or two, and a bag of M&Ms, but it managed all the same. Thank God our passports were waterproof.

So we made it to shore nicely, and slipped past security easily, having avoided it out of habit, not because we didn't have completely clear consciences. I did at least, but several of the newer recruits rubbed their chain jewelry nervously. Since I have probably stolen my own body weight in metal or electronics at least twice in the course of my shadier career, I couldn't judge. Zara and her brother, I think, were the only ones who had never stolen anything but food. And clothes.

Anyway, we had landed soggily in "Consta-constan- ok, someone help me!" Auger turned to me with shining eyes. "Constanța. Seriously, say it _right_." I rolled my eyes. _Well, Conzanblama. Everyone knows that's how you say it._ I was pretty sure I heard her wrong, and I was just not very inclined to say it right, even in my head. Which, as everyone tells me, is a very messed up place. "So, what's the game plan?" Adit asked, staring at the ground in fascination. "We, umm… well…" I ran my hands through my hair. Maniac did a fist pump. "We go clubbing!" She yelled, spinning round in a circle.

Everyone looked at me, waiting for me to answer. "I'm sure that the good people of Eastern Europe need to see some New World style partying." I said, trying and failing to conceal my grin. Everyone shrieked in delight and we all ran off into the evening, already planning a plot so insidious I refrain from recording it in full. Besides, where's the fun in that?

_Zara's POV:_

Life was looking up even more. Close scrutinizing showed that the cell had some nice mouse sized cracks. Which meant Squeaker and several others of my mystical menagerie could slip out and look around. Life just about hit the roof when I saw that someone had pushed an apple, some bread and a cup of milk in the food slot. I munched carefully. The rats around here had said that they were un-poisoned, but I wouldn't put it past Doc to think something up. Other than that, I scarfed it all down. When other people kidnap you, you save resources and hope for the best. With Millennium, you take it when you got it before they steal it back.

Once my feast had been completed, I sighed and leaned back, sending tiny little signals to Squeaker. _I need you to go see the outside._ I explained what I wanted with ideas, sounds, and smells, because if you tell a rodent, or any other animal for that reason, _I want you to go scout around outside and report back to say where the heck I am,_ they'll just be like "Say what?. He scampered down my arm and squeezed through a crack. He was, to help confused people, my familiar, more or less. Familiar says just the one. Squeaker was my connection to rats, what allowed me to speak to and understand them, and, in extreme circumstances, transform.

So, as mentioned before, I had a whole forest of woodland creatures all pent up inside me. Not literally, if you cut me open and poked around, songbirds and rats and cats and who knows what else wouldn't pop out. (I know because Doc tried it once) They're in me spiritually, or whatever else it was. I don't know. Anyway, I hadn't done it a second too late. A certain doctor in a bloody coat opened the door to my cell. "Excellent, I see you have healed yourself nicely." I barely managed not to slice him. "I see you're still as friendly as ever. Know exactly how to cheer me up after a good beat down you do."

He gestured and a couple of soldier types hauled me to my feet. "I see your former army is still biting the dust. Humans all around this time, I like it." I said cheerfully as they dragged me down a corridor. They stopped and dumped me in what looked like a doctor's office. They left, guarding the door I assumed. Doc flourished a clipboard. "Let's get started, shall we?" I folded my arms behind my head. "Yeah, so, I already got my blood work and blib-blab like that. What are you testing me for this time?" He shrugged, getting out a stethoscope thing and moving over to me. "Just a check up."

I slapped his hand away. "Nope, not for me sports fans." His eye twitched slightly. "Would it kill you to cooperate for once?" He seethed. I gave him a teenager look. "Why on earth would I cooperate with _you_? I know you're going to drive me whacko, or kill me or whatever, and you expect me to go "Yes sir, I will sir, I'm a bootlicker sir,". So yeah, no co-ops from me." About five minutes later I was strapped down to a gurney table and Doc had several new bruises, and the soldiers outside the door had now moved inside, watching me through slitted eyes.

"I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS IF IT TAKES ME MY WHOLE LIFE!" I yelled at him as he gave me a tetanus shot. The gurney vibrated with my struggles, and he glared at me, withdrawing the needle. "I WILL SUE! I DEMAND A LAWER! I DEMAND MY FREEDOM! I DEMAND A LOLLYPOP!" He blinked. "A lollypop!?" I shrugged. "I always get one when I go to the real doctor's." I said matter-of-factly before continuing my struggles. "OH NO YOU DON'T, DO NOT COME _CLOSE_ TO ME WITH THAT IV!_" _I yelled as he started re-testing my blood. Needless to say, I was a bit out of it. What can I say, injections, even when they have nothing to do with it, make me woozy.

Besides, it was so much fun confusing Doc. "NONONNONONONONONONONO! DO NOT STICK ME WITH THAT!" I screamed as he prepared to take my blood pressure. He gaped at me. "This doesn't even have a sharp point!" he yelled, having somewhat of a temper these days. I grinned. "I knew that." I said, coming to somewhat of a standstill, struggling-wise. He slowly unstrapped my upper arm to put it on, and I punched his lights out. Don't ask me how, but I will say being double-jointed does come in handy sometimes. "TAKE THAT 34 EYES!"

After a while, he was done, and practically broke the gurney wheeling me back to my cell. He shoved it in, hurriedly unbuckling the straps and jumping out of the cell again, taking it with him. I yelled after him "AND MIND YOU DON'T FORGET TO USE A DRUG NEXT TIME YOU KNOCK ME OUT!" My head fell back on the ground, having used up my energy, at least for now. Being whapped over the head with a steel clipboard will do that to you. Everything gets fuzzy and out of focus for a bit. I still had time and energy to heckle him though, and so far I was thoroughly enjoying pushing Millennium's collective buttons.

I heard a voice say faintly _"You know, you could be a little bit friendlier to him."_ I glared at the ceiling. _You know Schrö, I thought you were supposed to be stuck in my head._ I could almost feel him grin. "_You vere just hurt too much earlier to hear me. Vhat, did you think I was just going to sit back und watch?"_ I thought briefly about getting up and banging my head against the wall, but decided it was better to stay lying down. _I was rather hoping for it, yes. And why do you want me to be friendly to Doc?_

I heard him giggle. _"I don't. I just thought I vould try testing out giving you orders. You don't listen to me at all."_ I turned over, away from the still drying patch of blood. _When you give me an order that makes sense, I will hang on your every word. Until then, shut up._ Needless to say, he didn't listen to me. _"I've been looking through your mind. Vhy is the vampire Alucard-" _I mentally cut him off, imagining him being booted out of whatever part of my mind he was in. _THAT AREA IS OFF LIMITS, NO TOUCHIE-TOUCHIE, MITTS OFF, FINGERS TO YOURSELF, NO PEEKING AND GET OUT!_

He sighed. _"Fine, fine. Spoilsport. Has he kis-" _I just about blew a vein._ THAT SUBJECT IS ALSO OFF LIMITS, EXCETERA, AND YOU WILL NOT SAY ANYTHING MORE ABOUT IT! _I could almost see him stick his tongue out. _"Vhatever. It's _veird_ being stuck in a girl's mind. I liked being a boy much better."_ I sighed. _So, if we're going to be a team, you have to start bringing things to the table. Spill it_. I don't know how I was picking up on all this, but I think he was on his mind-couch again. _"Ya, I vas thinking about how to tell it all to you. Vhere vould I begin?"_ I growled. _The beginning's always good._

_**New World is what they in Europe used to call the Americas. Flameslavier, that wasn't my answer to your request, I'm still thinking on how to incorporate it. People, seriously, ask me to do anything and I will get on board with the idea. They (since it doesn't say gender) very nicely tried to give me a filler, and I got inspired (I quote "**__**Sorry I am not as creative as you**__**" **__**and I'm not even that creative**__**)**__**. They actually solved a problem I've been working on for a while, namely how to get the H.D. in a good spot for rescue. So, again, spit it out if you have an idea. I don't care how bad you think it is, go on, I NEED IDEAS! Yeah, again, I have no hates on Schrö, I even stuck him in Zara's head because he's awesome and I didn't want him to be left out! He was, indirectly, the inspiration for her character after all. I mean, I thought he was cool, but I thought he was a little to…to…wussy. Yeah, that's the word for it. He was a little too much of a wuss, figuratively speaking, and I wanted a better character. So I thought him bigger, female, more sarcastic, older… you get the gist. That's how I roll. Techno was inspired by a guy from a Fanfiction from Soul Eater I read, Auger was just randomly formulated from a bunch of homework problems, I've already told you how I thought up Maniac, Adit was inspired by Mole from Atlantis(Disney, which my little sister makes me watch with her. Some are better than others.), Zan was just there for reasons I'll explain later, because if I tell you now it'll ruin the plotline, the H.D. from a "This is Halloween" music video, Dennis, I don't remember, but I did think it out first. I think that's all my extra characters. Yell if I forgot anyone. Anyway, R,R, Rcomment. (see, it does start with R) Auf Wedersien! **_


	24. Chapter 24

_**So, I don't know all that much about Romania, and if I get it all hopelessly mixed up, you guys can correct me. I've never been there, and I don't know anyone who's been there, so I'm kinda stumbling around in the dark here. Assistance would be appreciated! So if you're from Romania and you read this, tell me what it's like there! This is going to be a funny chapter. Like, a **__really__** funny chapter. I got this mental image from another fanfic, and I immediately thought of this. Flameslavier, you may have helped me a lot more than I know! Thanks. I'm not going to put a revenge on Techno for this, purely because I don't have time for it, and what happens is punishment enough anyway. FOODFIGHT! So here we go!**_

_Techno's POV:_

Over the course of a few hours, we had all managed to get into this club, and I don't even want to try and pronounce its name. But, we all were there, and about three-fourths of us were already a bit drunk. We may have been very young, with almost none of us over (in fact less than three) eighteen, but this was thankfully a no-questions asked bar. Besides, we were much older mentally, right? That counts? Yeah, so anyway, drunk children mercenaries. It's actually as funny as it sounds. For example, right now Maniac and Adit were knocking back so strange liquid with very high alcoholic properties.

The people here had a really nice snack policy, namely you pay a couple twenties and grab as much food as you want. They had these really yummy cake-things, and there was only one left when they staggered over for some snacks. They had these really yummy cake-things, and there was only one left when they staggered over for some snacks. I quickly whipped out a camcorder, because I was pretty sure this would be worth it. And I was right.

_Maniac's POV:_

The pleasant dreamy haze of alcohol was shattered when I saw that there was only one cake-thing on the platter. I glared at Adit, whose eyes were fixed on the tiny cake-thing of holy deliciousness. I reached for it at the same time he did, and we growled at each other. "Mine." I said as clearly as possible. He just shook his head. "Mine." I tackled him, repeatedly punching at his face and arms. "MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE!" I yelled, seeing him still reaching for the cake-thing. He suddenly fell through the floor and I frantically scrabbled to get the plate before he could resurface.

I grabbed his legs just as he emerged and he fell to the floor, inches away from the cake-thing. We wrestled, rolling around on the floor, each trying to get back to the platter. We heard a chuckle and saw Auger reaching for the cake-thing, several meters away. We both tackled her, knocking her back into the bar, various liquids trickling around us as we both slammed her into the ground. "MINE!" we yelled in unison. She shoved both of us off, and made a beeline towards the platter. "MINE!" she yelled grabbing for it. We all froze when we saw the cake-thing was not in its proper place.

Blindly searching for a sign of it, I spotted a newer recruit lifting it to his mouth. "GET YOUR MITTS OFF MY CAKE-THING!" I yelled, charging towards him and snatching it out of his hand, only to be tackled by several other people. We all rolled around on the floor, cake-thing forgotten as it lay on the sidelines. We crashed into the other members of the H.D., adding them to the fray as they tried to break us up. A punching, screaming, kicking mass was soon rolling round on the dance floor, and the other clubbers had wisely decided to leave us to it.

Suddenly, an ear-shattering noise pierced my eardrums, and I let go of Auger's hair and clapped my hands to my ears. Everyone around me was doing the same, curling up on the floor in agony as that _sound_ bellowed from the speakers. _"And I was like Baby, baby, baby oooooh, like baby, baby, baby noooooooo, like baby, baby, baby, ooooh."_ I screamed, and I was pretty sure a bunch of people were doing the same. "MY EARS, TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!" The sound was turned off, replaced by ringing silence and a munching sound. Techno was standing there, videoing us and chewing on the last cake-thing. "Not bad. I have to remember this in future. If I want anything and you don't comply, this sucker's going on YouTube."

We all stared at him for a minute, then slowly got up. The flashing club lights made it hard to see his expression, but I was pretty sure it was panic. "Well, that's all for me sports fans." He said quickly, clicking his fingers and suddenly all the lights in the club went out, accompanied by the screams of the other clubbers. A few seconds later, they came back on, and he was gone. "We never speak of this again." I slurred, to everyone's agreement. We spent the rest of the night getting as hyped-up drunk as possible.

_Techno's POV:_

I grinned as the van bumped its way along the dirt road. Groans in the back assured me of everyone's state of mind, namely, head-splitting hangover headaches. Maniac lurched forward in the seat next to me. "Don't drive so loud…" she moaned through her hands. "Nonsense, this air is good for you!" I said cheerfully, sticking my head out the window and taking a deep breath. The van gave an alarming lurch and everyone swore at me. "Don't go cluttering up the air with your language!" I said, withdrawing my head and jerking the steering wheel so all four tires could be back on the ground.

I was feeling fine, namely because I didn't have any alcohol at all last night. One needs all their wits about themselves if they're a teen with no driving license and a bunch of drunken passengers in the back. Cops tend to ask questions, and if you're drunk too, it gets nasty real fast. Plus, I loved taunting them when they were like this. Whoops!" The van temporarily left terra firma and everyone swore again as we became temporarily weightless. "The pristine air of Europe is going to be polluted fast if you keep that up!" I said, swerving to avoid a tree and clicking on the radio.

I was able to do all these stunts because we were on a backwoods trail that went on a more or less straight line over to another country, this being a way for us to nicely leave and go to England. I hated customs anyway. My cell phone ran and I hit the brakes, laughing everyone fell to the ground again as the van skidded to a stop. I clicked it on. "H.D. temporary chief here, who is calling?" It was Integra, and she didn't sound happy. "Zara has been kidnapped by Millennium. Her brother and Alucard said it was on a train somewhere in Switzerland. Where are you?" I flicked out a road map. "About a centimeter from the R in Romania, heading towards-"

She cut me off quite rudely. "Get to England as soon as possible. I don't care how you do it." The phone went dead. I put it back in my pocket and revved the engine, shooting up the hill/mountain we were already driving on anyway. Everyone was jerked off their feet again, and the clean air of Europe suddenly became much less spick-and-span. We stopped under an overhang, and I opened the locks on the doors. "Last chance to vomit." Everyone staggered out of the car and ran for the railing on the side of the road. I sat there, humming to myself quietly. I stared at a rat that ran up onto the hood of the car. "Hey, Squeaker, that isn't a good rat place."

I stared as the rat came right up to the windshield, and smacked myself when I realized it actually _was _Squeaker. He tapped out a rhythm on the glass, then repeated it. I scribbled down the pattern, and then he went on to another one. I saluted him. "May cheese rain evermore upon your disease-ridden head." I said, and the rat scampered off and went into the bushes. Zara had made a point to teach us and her familiars Morse code, and I looked at the message. _"Millennium's back, and I'm locked up in a cell. If this reaches anyone from Hellsing, Major, Doc, and the werewolf have clones. I don't know where I am, so send a message back with the rat. Zara."_

_Zara's POV:_

When I said spill it, Schrödinger seemed to take me seriously. _"Vell, it's like this. It case I failed, which I did, ve vould have a Pazúry bind your demon into themself, like vhat happened with you. Then, Alucard vould have to consume you in some fashion, like he did with me. The binding you put on the demon vould mix with his, und he vould lose his mind like hers. He vould also lose his material form, like her as vell, und shatter into the fragments of multiple different family member's minds, both Hellsing und Pazúry. The only vay to reverse it vould be to kill them all, which both bindings prevent. I think it vould have worked very vell."_

My mind raced as I contemplated what he was saying, which seemed to make more sense than the whole rampage- through-the-world idea I had._ If he, oh I don't know, drank my blood, would that still count?_ Schrödinger shook his head, I think. _"Nope. He vould have to completely devour you."_ I sighed in relief. _So, if he liked me, that would have nothing to do with any, umm, I guess baiting, from the Major?_ I could definitely feel his excitement. _"Nein, that wasn't part of the plan either. Hey, you like him don't y-" _I cut him off. _Off limits, remember?_ _So what you're saying is, if he doesn't eat me, he's good?_ Schrödinger nodded. "_Pretty much. Also, you have successfully bound her so vell I think it vould be pretty_ _useless, even if he did eat you."_

Our conversation was cut short by Squeaker returning. When he finished explaining, I was equally torn between joy and anger. Apparently I was being held in a compound underground, despite the fact everything looked like a zeppelin-airship thingy. That was rather clever of the Major, no one would look underground for a fake zeppelin. And I was in Romania. That was mostly the neutral part of my mind, the anger was that the H.D. was more or less directly over my head, and I was stupider than Techno if I thought they wouldn't try a rescue.

Also, to the obvious fact we had a traitor. They wouldn't just _happen _to be in Romania, and just _happen _to use the road right by the compound. The Major had said something, like he wanted them to try a rescue, and I sensed it would turn out very badly if they did. I was joyous because they were in fact going to try a rescue, because I really wanted to be out of here. The Major didn't know about Schrö being stuck in my head, so maybe everything would turn out fine.

I needed to do something very stupid, reckless, and terminally insane. Just the thing Techno would approve of. I needed to actually shapeshift my physical body, and get the heck out of dodge to warn my friends. Some people can do this very easily, but some people don't have a crazy demon, and several dozen other forms, clamoring to get out when they shapeshift. I do, so it's very hard for me. I squeezed my eyes shut, concentrating very hard on rats. Furry, grey, long skinny tail, you get the idea. After an incredibly tense five minutes, I opened my tiny red eyes, and immediately scuttled over to wall.

Human-me gasped, trying to overcome the rat-me's overwhelming urge to fight, eat, mate, and _hide, hide, HIDE! _All my other animals forms fought, each trying to come out to, and for a second I was sprouting feathers and my tail grew cat hairs. I forced them all back, ignoring Tetsab's urges, which were mainly _KILL, EAT, I WANT OUT._ I walked slowly over to the crack and scuttled in and up, trying desperately to find the light of day before my animal instincts overpowered my human self.

_Integra's POV:_

The phone on my desk rang, and I looked at it suspiciously. It went to speaker, and I heard a voice. "Sir Integra, are you there, please, I need you to answer!" I grabbed the phone, hurriedly switching it to speaker and answering. "Yes, Zara, I'm here, how on earth did you escape?" I heard her gulp. "I shapshifted. It was a lot harder than it used to be, I almost lost myself for a few seconds." I could almost hear her fear, as she swallowed again, clearly trying to calm herself down. "But I got some news on me and Alucard."

I listened to her explain, frowning deeper and deeper as she went on. About halfway in, she calmed down more, and went slower, which was just as well, because she was explaining more important things now. "And so Alucard can't eat me, or else he'll go nuts and vanish, like he was supposed to do with Schrödinger ." she said, finishing up. Speaking of, Alucard swept into the room, using the door for once. "Who are you-" he started, but stopped when he heard Zara's voice. "Alucard? How long does it take you, seriously, Italy's like three countries away!"

He froze, and I raised my eyebrows. _Hmm._ "Master, may I go get her?" He said, avoiding eye contact. I nodded and he phased off at the speed of light. "Wait!" Zara said from the phone, then sighed. "He's gone hasn't he?" I nodded. "Yes." "Jerk." She muttered. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I've got a mole in the H.D. I don't even know if it's a he or a she, but someone was pulling strings to get them here so they could rescue me, and I know for a fact the Major was expecting it." I froze in my seat, my mind running through all the possible scenarios. "Judging from your silence, you agree with me. This is bad, _very_ bad."

_Spy Person's POV:_

I slammed the lid of the box down, quickly locking it as he strolled in. Major had already known Zara would escape, but then again, it didn't matter anyway. I had just finished my report when you-know-who had told me we were packing our stuff and going to meet her. I barely suppressed a grin as we picked our way to the car. She'd finally _understand_, after so many years, why I was doing this for her. She would _know_ how I felt for her. And then we'd die together. Life was good.

_**I have nothing against Justin Beiber as it is, mainly because all I know about him is that he's incredibly high-pitched, but once at Skateville or wherever, I saw a bunch of kids do this as a joke when his song came on, so I thought it'd be funny for someone to do it for real. Plus I don't know any other songs that might be on a club's playlist. Also, I have no idea what they serve as food, or if they even serve food in clubs here(USA), much less Romania. So I just said cake-thing, because it's fun to say and spell. Who do **__you__** think the mole (spy) is? I know, but I'm the omnipotent writer. I know all…but I forget most. Mystical confusion…not working so well for me is it? *sigh* Review, Request, Rcomment. (I told you all) Auf Wedersien! **_


	25. Chapter 25

_**Before you all ask, yes she is going to PWN Millennium, but her friends are going to help. That's the whole reason I created their mad selves, because pwning someone isn't half as much fun when you're doing it by yourself. They're going to charge in, pwn everyone, and go out in a fiery blaze of glory! (Not really, but something along those lines, there's going to be explosions at least. And now two people are going to die for sure, sorry. One's the spy!*looks sheepish and shrugs*) Anyway, on we go. **_

_Zara's POV:_

I was sitting at the edge of a clearing, really relishing the nice mountain air, and the setting sun. After a while, it finally got dark, and I stretched, thinking about heading over to where Techno and the other's were. After I called Sir Integra, I phoned them, and I think I actually might have heard the cheering from where I sat. It was certainly loud enough to make me jerk away from the phone. I shivered. Apparently it got pretty dang cold in Romania at night when the sun set. Arms wrapped around me and I felt a cold presence at my back. Or maybe it was just him.

I turned my head to see Alucard hugging me tightly, rocking back and forth just a little bit. I whimpered, and he immediately let go. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hold you too tightly?" I hissed, trying to breathe normally. "No… you just" I gasped, feeling more pain. "Opened a few wounds." He pushed my sleeve up gently, and I looked away from the blood trickling down my arm. He let my sleeve fall back down. "What happened to you?' I swallowed nervously. "The werewolf. He doesn't like me."

"That's an understatement." He said, looking down at me with a half amused, half angry expression. "It was a lot worse earlier." I protested. He raised his eyebrows. I held up my hand and winced. "Word of honor sir. I have a little bit of healing powers from Tetsab. How'd you get here so fast?" He shrugged carelessly. "I can move pretty fast once I'm not by an ocean. Plus, this is my country. This is where I was made." He looked into the trees, as if remembering. "Cool." I said, not really knowing what else to say. He looked back down at me. "That's one way to put it."

I stood up. "So where's everyone else?" He shrugged again. "I think they're somewhere below us." I pushed my hair back and started walking down through the trees. "Right then. Let's go." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, I want to tell you something." I turned, thanking the Captain silently that he hadn't done much on my shoulder, just broken it a little. "What?" I said, putting my hands on my hips. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly trying to think of something. "Well…" I raised my eyebrows. "Mark this day on a monument. Alucard is speechless." He scowled at me. "It's not something I can just say easily." My heartbeat sped up just a tiny bit. What was he talking about? Was it the whole…liking situation? He lowered his hand, staring at me.

"I, well… oh heck." He suddenly pulled me close to him and kissed me. On the lips. I almost gasped, torn between wanting to shove him off and ram a dagger somewhere uncomfortable, and the rest of me bent on just enjoying this. He was holding me in such a way I could pull back if I wanted to, but still was supporting me gently. He carefully moved his lips against mine, getting more confident now that I wasn't showing any signs of rejection. I thought at him. _Someone's had experience with this sort of thing._ He growled softly. _I don't see you complaining. Why, is this your first time?_

I couldn't argue with that, and besides, I was kinda losing power of conscious thought. _Yes, in matter of fact. My first kiss has been stolen by a walking corpse._ He grinned against me, and pulled me into a more secure position. _Excellent. I would hate for anyone else to have it._ He gently began to nibble my lower lip, and I gasped. I had no idea what he was doing, but that was quickly answered when his tongue slid into my mouth. I blushed, and I was pretty sure he could feel it. He tasted just like his blood, coppery and powerful. He smirked again. _I taste like power?_ I shrugged, my thoughts coming back a little bit. _You know, lighting, ozone, the way vampires' smell. Power. _

He withdrew his tongue so suddenly that my own slipped into his mouth. He gently clamped his teeth down on it, preventing me from taking it away_. Gimme my tongue back. _I thought, since my mouth was kinda busy at the moment. "Mmm…" he hummed gently, licking the tip of my tongue with his own. _Lemons and herbs. You taste just like your blood too._ I blushed so deep I thought my face was going to be stained a permanent red. I could feel his teeth getting longer and sharper, and one of his longer ones slightly cut into me. I gasped, trying to jerk back, but before I could he pressed his tongue against the wound, sealing it. _Sorry. I couldn't control myself for a moment._

He pulled back. I swallowed a couple times, still feeling my face was way too hot for my liking. "So what was it you wanted to tell me?" I asked hoarsely, licking my lips a little. He brushed some of my hair away from my face. "If you must know, you answered it. I was going to ask if you returned my feelings for you, which you obviously do." I blushed even more, rolling my eyes. "You know, you could have just _said _that. You didn't have to take my very first ever kiss. Dennis is going to kill me." He growled, pressing into me. "Not if I can help it." I glared up at him. "And Integra's gonna slaughter you."

He laughed and ran his hand through my hair. I twitched, barely mastering the impulse to jerk forward as I hummed in a sort of compromise. "That I can live with." I wrenched myself free, which was oddly easier when I was injured, maybe because he didn't want to hold on to me to tightly. "Yeah, ok, whatever. Moving on from that subject, can we go down to my friends yet? I want to confer with them and then kick the Major's but!" I did an extremely weak fist pump, mainly because all the bones in that arm had been shattered yesterday.

He chuckled and bumped his fist against mine. He swooped and picked me up, running down the side of the mountain much faster than I ever could, even when fully functioning. I clung to him, because if he dropped me, which, although extremely unlikely, could happen, I wasn't betting on getting up from it. I felt Schrödinger stir inside me. _Crap._ He blinked, or it felt like he did. _"Vhat the_- GOTT IM HIMMEL! " he jerked away from whatever part of my mind he was in._ "VHAT THE HELL! VHAT DID YOU JUST DO!?"_ I scowled. _That subject is now off-limits, and all I can say is I enjoyed it._

It was weird. I could _feel _him stomping around inside my mind, scrubbing at himself. _"I'M STUCK IN HERE TOO YOU KNOW, UND I CAN READ YOUR EMOTIONS! Vhy, vhy, vhy, VHY!" _I grinned, almost seeing his look of disgust. _Why what? My mind, my life, my body. You're just along for the ride bucko. _I deliberately snuggled against Alucard, feeling Schrö flee for some out-of-way corner in my mind. My sense of him faded abruptly, and I guess he went into his little me-corner of my mind. Alucard blinked down at me. "Is there a reason for this sudden show of affection?" he asked, looking slightly nonplussed.

I shrugged. "It would take too long to explain. This is coming from a guy who came out of nowhere and kissed me? Pot, kettle, black. You know the rest." He scowled, bending his head down and whispering "I could continue where I left off." I blushed, pushing him away, muttering "You don't need to go that far." He grinned, and skidded to a stop. Lights covered the ground below us, and my grip on his neck tightened unconsciously. "Damn idiots." I muttered, shaking my head. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Why is that?" I gestured wordlessly at the blaze of light below us. "Where did they even g_et _a spotlight?"

He smirked. "It is rather conspicuous. However, I think it's only a cover up for them. At least, if it isn't, you are a very bad leader." I whacked him over the head, or at least tried to, but he somehow managed to twist and slide his head in to kiss my cheek. "Just teasing." He said, pulling back. I growled at him, rubbing my cheek where his lips had been. He grinned widely, obviously not caring. He suddenly leapt down the cliff face, and anything I might have said was lost and I squeezed my eyes shut, wrapping both arms around his neck. He landed with a thud, and we were immediately shot at. I squirmed out of Alucard's grasp, landing on the ground. "Cease Fire!" I yelped.

The gunshots stopped and Auger stepped down from the tree in front of us. "Zara!? Alucard?" I saluted from my position on the ground, slowly sitting upright. "Present and accounted for." Alucard bent down, gently lifting me to my feet. Auger waited until I was upright, then tried to hug me. Alucard stopped her, growling. "You might re-open her injuries." I fought to keep a straight face. It was so _cute_ to hear him being all protective. She settled for giving me a thumbs up. I pointed at Alucard. "See, they are perfectly prepared, even if they were so stupid as to leave all possible lights on."

Auger winced and he raised his eyebrows. "Ok, that wasn't even my idea." She said, rubbing the back of her head. "But we stationed guards, so if they do come we're ready!" She pumped her fist in the air, grinning, and this is the key word here, _recklessly_. I rolled my eyes. "Now, where's Techno, so I can wring his stupid neck?" She pointed over her shoulder. "Somewhere over there. I'll see you after guard duty." We both passed her, and I started clenching my fists. Techno was going to get it good this time.

_Alucard's POV:_

I watched in fascinated amusement as Zara railed at her second in command. She hadn't stabbed me, and did nothing more than comment when I kissed her. I wondered just how far I could push my luck… but she was clearly in a bad mood. I sighed. She turned to glare at me. "Go make yourself useful and fetch Auger and the others." She pointed to the door of the van, and I left, searching out all the officials of the H.D. when I brought them back, it got rather crowded, so I was forced to sit next to Zara. I casually slipped an arm around her waist, which none of the others thankfully noticed. She did however, and after telling them that there was a spy in their ranks, mind-said to me _"Mitts off Alucard. I like you, but there are lines that are drawn, as you damn well know."_

I grinned, slightly moving my arm. _So you admit you like me?_ She rolled her eyes, but twined her fingers around mine. _"Compromise?" _ I let go of her, but kept my grip on her hand. _Compromise._ "I say we go in there and kill them all." Said Maniac, slamming her fist down on the seat. Everyone chorused agreement, but me and Zara said nothing. _"But what about the clones?"_ she asked. I said the same out loud. "There are clones that are designed to be activated once the Major and Co. are dead. Techno, I can't believe I'm saying this, but we'll need you. Deactivate what sends the signal, and we'll destroy the bases the other clones are at when we can track them."

He grinned. "Yes sir!" I rolled my eyes and turned to Maniac and Auger. "Maniac, go in the base and blow up as much as you can. Auger, try to hack into the computer's and find the location of the other clones." Zan, who had come with me on my wild flight here, looking at me expectantly. "You will help Zara and myself kill the Major and his minions." He beamed, clearly happy to get his revenge on the Major. "The rest of this mob can help wipe out the soldiers." I said, already reveling the fight to come.

_Spy Person's POV:_

I barely managed keep from smirking as they poured out their plans. The idiots, they actually expected to win this. None of them knew that their moves had already been planned out, like moves to a dance. I settled for grinning recklessly, like they were all doing. I knew what would happen. They would all die. I would die to, but I already felt dead, with only the annoying throb of my pulse to remind me I wasn't. Soon, so soon, it would stop, and I could rest, forever.

_**Two Chapters in one day, **__**GOTT**____**IM HIMMEL! **__**I thought they hadn't even kissed yet, so I wanted to get that out of the way before she- oh, wait, you guys don't know how I'm gonna end this do you? Guess I just gave it away. Dang it. Sorry. :( This was actually rather fast to write, hmm. *shrugs* Whatever. I just hope I can finish this soon, because my main focus is already on the second one! (Which is a continuation of this one) I managed to work in a bit of revenge for Techno, but it's not enough. Oh well. I need to do the next chapter, because maybe then, or definitely #27, I'll reveal the spy. Dun dun, dadum. R,R, Rcomment, the rest of it. Auf Wedersien! **_


	26. Chapter 26

_**MOTIVATION ATTACK! So, this is ending soon. *Sigh* It's my first ever fanfic, and at 46 reviews, 1,772 views from 23 different countries, and 26 chapters and counting, I feel I haven't done too shabby. I had to write romance for the first time, and I realized the internet is a very strange place. I want to get some of my fellow Fanfiction author's autographs, and beat others around the head with an active chainsaw. (Funny mental image isn't it?) My reviewers have been reviewing; even when we all feel I haven't done too good a job. Thank you all, excepting those authors whom are going to get a chainsaw smack down. I've learned, and can put that learning into the book I'm writing. (A full time, money-making book, at least in theory) Even the chain-sawed authors helped me write a little, at least the bloody scenes.**_

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

Zara's group may have been loud, reckless children, but when it actually came down to the ground, they were all seasoned fighters, tough and ready to fight the undead, never mind normal humans. The location of the secret base had been pinpointed, and everyone was gearing up for battle. Maniac was decked out in her little disk-bombs, constantly fiddling with them. Techno was absently taking apart and putting together the computer they all shared. Auger sat next to them, watching everyone else with hooded eyes. Zan was following his sister around, already regretting being this close to Millennium _again_, with his sister here no less. Denis shadowed them both, quiet and stately.

Zara herself stared into the distance often, as if listening to a voice in her head. Alucard was obviously excited, grinning maniacally and fingering the Jackal and .454 Casull. When noon came, which was the agreed time of attack, Adit dug down, disappearing with one of Maniac's bombs. He quickly scrambled back up, running back towards the others, who were waiting in the trees. The ground in front of them blew up, showering the H.D. and Alucard with bits of earth and twisted metal. The underground base now lay exposed for all to see, and they moved in.

_Zara's POV:_

Ok, this was it. We still had no clue who the traitor was, so we just assumed everyone was, which was a bit stressful. No person except me and Alucard knew all the exact roles people were going to play. If any part of the plan failed, we would know exactly who to blame. After Adit blew the entrance up, we all headed to our predetermined targets. I wasn't a prayerful person, but this had to be an exception. _Please let everyone make it out alright. I don't care who's the traitor, but please let everyone else make it out ok._

_Techno's POV:_

I was heading for the computer room with Auger. We knew what to do, but I was still worried. What if it didn't work? The program Zara gave me was supposed to make a copy of the chips implanted in the Major, but what if it backfired? _What if all the other plans backfired?_ I shook my head, trying to focus. We made it, and there were no guards, no scientists, no nothing. "It appears we've been expected." Auger said in a monotone. I nodded. "Be on guard." We cautiously walked into the room, ready for anything. Suddenly the door slammed shut, and another door opened, pouring out ghouls. I shrugged off my jacket, getting my wires ready for battle. Auger pulled out a pistol.

"You got plenty of ammo in there, right?" I said, backing towards the door with her. "I certainly hope so." She said, aiming at the oncoming ghouls. Gunshots rang out, and sparks flared as we desperately attacked the ghouls, hoping against hope that we could somehow beat them. Such was not to be. My electricity was at an all time low, and Auger informed me that she only had a few more rounds left when only half of the ghouls had been decimated. We were going to die.

_Maniac's POV:_

I waited for most of my squad to finish wiring the bombs, then motioned them all to get back. I activated them, and a blast of hot air and molten metal signaled the end of Doc's research, and his lab along with it. We moved on, decimating the cell blocks, and the barracks, and other choice locations. We had basically ringed the whole place in a firestorm, and left one exit, which was the one we had come through. In the whole process, we saw no one. This was explained when we turned a corner and were faced with a firing squad of ghouls. Adit cursed.

I flung disks at them, not even trying to actually hit them, just blow an opening for my team. They shot silver rounds at the ghouls, fighting the best they could. Gunshots sounded around me as my team started to drop, screaming. Adit dug under me, surfacing with the wounded, carrying them to safety. We ducked behind the corner, avoiding the ghoul's blasts. "This is my last round." Said a girl, clicking it into place. Adit passed her one silently, no doubt scavenged from a wounded soldier. "Same here." Said my other two unharmed members, looking around the corner.

"Well, if we die today, we have died well." I said, pumping my fist in the air. "Let's show those ghouls a real Halloween sign-out!" We cheered, which must have confused the ghouls. I knew that we might, heck, we _would_ die today, but in retrospect, it seemed worth it. We charged around the corner, dodging bullets best we could, and replying in kind. Ghouls dropped, and the way ahead of us was suddenly clear. We passed the burned out shells, crumbling into dust, and my spent disk-bombs. Suddenly, we were flung forward on a wave of heat and light.

We landed hard, and I turned around. The one empty hallway had now been consumed in a firestorm, one I knew that had come from my _spent_ bombs. _Damn traitor._ We picked ourselves up, and I turned away from the blaze, knowing I couldn't do anything to stop it. I pushed as much of it down as I could, but I knew that we only delayed the inevitable. I grabbed my microphone. "All units, the hallway has been compromised, get out now! I repeat, get out now!" We ran outside, into the sun, and I wondered how many would come out after us.

_Zara's POV:_

I scowled, skidding to a halt. Alucard stopped as well, and looked down the hallway. "What do we do?" Zan asked, looking panicked. "We're way too far away to get there in time, we're gonna die!" I reached out, gently patting his back. "We've got Alucard, remember? He can run real fast and get us out with time to spare, right Alucard?" I gave him a thumbs up. He nodded. "Yes, I can." Zan nodded, looking slightly happier. "ok." He said in a small voice. We came to the room where the Captain had beaten me up, and the Major had given his message to Alucard.

I kicked at the door, slamming it open. "Knock KNOCK!" Schrödinger cautioned me in my mind. "_Be careful, you have no idea vhat's in there."_ I strode in, accompanied by Alucard and Zan. _I know that, what, did you think I was so stupid to just run in there?_ The Major sat in his chair, with Doc and the Captain on either side of him. "Ah, fraulien, you are here. I must say, I was quite impressed by your friends' tenacity. None of them were supposed to leave the base alive, but already over half have done so. No matter, the important ones are still here."

Doc clicked a button, and I saw Techno and Auger, stuck in what I supposed to be the computer room, surrounded by ghouls. Maniac, Adit, and the rest appeared one a different screen, all looking at the entrance to the base, waiting for us, I supposed. "You know there was a spy, but which one? I tell you now." Doc clicked another button, and a image of us appeared, zooming in on my brother. I looked at him in horror. "Yes, it's him. He is quite unhinged, you know." I stared at him, my mouth working in anger. He held out his hands defensively.

"I knew we could never get away from them, so I led everyone here!" he said, stammering. "If everyone else was dead, we could both go where we belonged, without disappointing them! We were never meant to live, I knew that! I just wanted you to know it too!" Alucard snarled, and Zan moved away from him, closer to me. "Please, you have to understand! I never meant to hurt anyone!" he sobbed, holding his hands out to me. "I just wanted to make you understand." I swallowed. "I understand." His face brightened, and he smiled a little.

"I understand why you gave up. That much stress, that much pain, you couldn't handle it." I said, my eyes narrowing in anger. "You wanted me to give up." He blinked, looking hurt. "I just wanted to be like you! I didn't want to be a stupid little brother, helpless, weak, unnoticeable. I wanted…" he trailed off, looking at his shoes. "I wanted to make you proud of me. I wanted everyone to see I was _your_ brother, to know and say "That's him, her brother, her first choice of advice." But no matter what I did, it never worked!" I pressed my lips together, hard. "Please, I don't want it to be like this!" he sobbed, suddenly moving forward and hugging me. "I don't want to know you hate me!"

Alucard moved, about to jerk him off me, but I held up a hand, stopping him. I gently hugged him, rocking back and forth, letting him cry on my shoulder, just like he used to when we were young and he had a bad dream. "I don't hate you." I said softly. "I hate Millennium. They twisted your mind, broke you will, made you blame yourself for everything they did. They made you into someone I despise more than anything else. A traitor." He flinched, still sobbing. "Don't make it hurt." He whispered chokingly. I sniffed, feeling tears run down my cheeks.

He was a traitor, but he was my brother. He had always been there, always with me, even when he was so scared that his mind cracked. He had been there when _I_ was scared, held my hand, helped me get through it. He had done everything for me, and if I asked him to do something, he would do it, regardless of consequences. I gently shifted, holding a dagger against his back. "Look at the light." I said quietly. He whimpered. "I can't see it!" I gently rocked him some more. "Shhhh, it's there. Look for it." I could feel him comply. "I think…I think I see it." He said in a small voice.

_Zan's POV:_

I knew she was trying to catch me off guard, but I listened to her. "Good." She said, and I felt warm, hearing the approval I longed for in her voice. "Fall into it…let it take you…" she whispered, and I stared at the tiny dot, feeling a prick of pain in my back. I wanted to pull away, and see if she was alright, but my arms felt like lead. The light swelled, and I moved towards it, hearing someone call out to me. "I love you." She said, and I felt a tear drop onto my shoulder. I smiled, feeling wonderful for the first time in years. "I love you too." I tried to say, but my lips wouldn't move.

I fell into the light, reaching for the voice. _"Momma? I had a bad dream." _I said, feeling much younger all of a sudden. I felt her arms wrap around me. _"Everything is alright. Say goodbye." _I turned, and saw, from a long ways away, Zara. She was holding someone in her arms, and I gasped. _"Is that…me?"_ I felt her smile, and all my worldly pain seemed to float away. _"It was."_

_Zara's POV:_

He sighed, and I withdrew the dagger, feeling the life flee from him. He dropped, thudding unceremoniously against the ground. I wiped the dagger on my pants, feeling sobs well up in my throat. Memories flashed in front of my eyes, and I swallowed, trying to repress them all. _Zan coming towards me, holding his hands out for the present I gave him. Zan, patting my back, trying to comfort me in my depression after Dennis's death._ _Zan, looking at me in worshipful_ _adoration_. Dennis appeared suddenly, right on his wound. _"I'm sorry."_ I choked. "Did you know?" She shook her head. _"No. I was dead when it all started, remember?"_

_***Flashback***_

_ I ran through the hallways, leaning heavily on Zan's shoulder. He had come for me, almost too late, but we were escaping now, and Dennis was going to meet up with us by the entrance. My blood dripped heavily down my leg, and I gritted my teeth. Millennium was going to pay for this. When Zan had opened my cell, he was disjointed, eyes wandering all around, never focusing in the same spot twice. I had to shake him rapidly for him to even articulate words. His hair was snarled, and there were bits of twigs and leaves stuck in it. He was clearly out of it._

_ We skidded to a halt, seeing a soldier in the shadows ahead. Dennis was tottering past him on weak kitten legs, and he shrugged, aiming his gun straight for her face. She mewled, trying to find us by sound and scent alone. Her eyes had been gouged out by some accident, or another soldier. I struggled, feeling Zan's hands clamp around my mouth. The soldier aimed, and tears were starting to run down my face. A gunshot ran out, and I wrenched myself from his grasp, charging the soldier, snarling._

_ Dennis was stretched out on the ground, so lifeless, so small and frail, blooding pouring from the neat hole in the center of her forehead. I ripped that soldier limb from limb, literally, in my rage. I had time to see Dennis's last few breaths, and then she stopped. I wailed my grief to the uncaring sky above, Zan joining me on the floor, holding me. I felt dizzy, and fainted. When I came too, we were far away, and Zan was back to normal. Or so I thought._

_***End Flashback***_

The Major grinned, as if he knew exactly what I was going through. "But he wasn't was he? His mind had broken, and you were the only thing stabilizing it, in a way. Manipulating him was childishly simple." I gritted my teeth. "I don't care what you think you're doing, but Techno and Auger aren't done yet. They'll make it." They started laughing, but a voice from the screen stopped them. "Damn right we aren't! I just realized how much power you can take from a computer keyboard! It's incredible!"

_Techno's POV:_

I was too busy to watch the screen much, but I knew they all were looking appalled. Auger was surfing the web, trying to find all the locations of the other clones. I was busily zapping zombie-popcorn. It's a recipe I'm sure to copy. 1, find a computer not in use. 2, drain it completely of electrical power, then zap oncoming ghouls into a charred ashes. Repeat as necessary. Zombie-popcorn! Anyway, I had just finished with the last of them and was clicking away on my little portable computer-program-thing. When I was about halfway done, it suddenly crashed, and I cursed, knowing who was responsible. _Damn you Zan._

I restarted, and double-clicked, pasted, cut and typed, trying to cure the virus he stuck on it. I finally succeeded, and turned off the signals the chips would send if the Major and his bunch were killed. "Feel free to start massacring, because the chips are experiencing technical difficulty." I said triumphantly. Auger printed the last few sheets of info, and waved them in the air. "I got the locations for the rest!" She stuffed them down her shirt and we ran for the exit. When we got there however, a raging fire blocked our path.

_**Cliffhanger! The next chapter's going to be the last one, I was surprised at how much progress I made. Well, maybe, it ain't going over thirty, that's for sure. I was so motivated, because I've been thinking on how to do this for ages! R, R, Rcomment. I will try to get the next chapter posted by Monday, but no promises. Who knows, I may be so motivated I'll get into the sequel! Auf Wedersien!**_


	27. Chapter 27

_**Possibly four chapters in two days, I'm in shock. I was just plodding along, and then flameslavier made their request, and I finished that, and then I was suddenly besieged with motivation. I couldn't keep up with it! Oh well, you'll probably all hate me at the end. The spy was Zan! Yeah, the whole purpose for me creating him was to be a traitor and then die. I had originally planned for it to be Techno, but he took on a lot of what I wanted Zan to be doing, so I just kinda switched their roles a bit. *shrugs* Anyway, on we go!**_

_Zara's POV:_

I cracked my knuckles. Alucard raised his guns, and the Major and Doc looked very nervous. The Captain, as usual, said nothing. My microphone crackled. "We're stuck, sorry. The exit's blocked in a firestorm. I just wanted to tell you, it was fun knowing you. I regret nothing." Techno's voice said, sounding serious for once. Auger broke in next to him. "All I can say, is you owe me big. I die, and there's no pop. When Hellsing gives us a funeral, I demand there be pop." I looked at Alucard. "Go get them out." He shook his head. "I'm staying here with you."

I smiled at him hesitantly. "I can shapeshift, remember? I'll be fine. Go get them to safety." The werewolf made a move, and I instantly focused on him. "Alucard, _go get them_." Alucard smirked. "Yes. But don't die. I'll never forgive you." He phased away, and I stared at the last surviving members of Millennium. Major shook his head. "You do know you will die if you attempt this." I grinned, recklessly. "I know. But, my friends will get out, and you'll die with me."

_Alucard's POV:_

Techno and Auger were surprised to see me. When I got them out, Maniac and the others were just as surprised. I turned preparing to go back in the base. I heard Zara's voice on the microphone. "Everyone made it out?" Maniac nodded. "Everyone but you and Zan." I frowned. There was something in her voice… "Good. All I can say, I'm sorry." I blinked, feeling panic race through me. "You are not-" I said, but she cut me off. "Do you honestly think I would survive a full on fight with all of them bent on getting out? Don't be stupid."

I raced for the base, but I could still hear her in my mind. _"I'm sorry Alucard. There really is no way around it." _ I phased through the ground, getting closer and closer to her. _PLEASE! DON'T! _Her voice took on a tone of amusement. _"Don't beg. I'll see you in the next life, if you ever do get there. Don't blame the others, this was my choice. And don't blame yourself."_ A flash of light erupted, and the ground around me exploded, carrying the base and its contents sky-high. I felt her mind flare out in agony, and then a gaping nothingness. She was gone.

_Zara's POV:_

I blocked Captain, already telling my familiars to vamoose. They all complied, but Dennis stayed, helping hold off Doc. She would die at the same time as me anyway. The Major just sat there, accepting that I had won this round at least. Schrö was still in my mind. _"Vell, if you aren't going to leave, I might as vell help." _The objects around Doc suddenly moved, crashing into his chest. _You're a poltergeist? _I asked, ducking Captain's arm. _"Apparently so." _ I slammed Captain into the wall, feeling Tetsab stir within me.

She knew quite well what I wanted, and was doing her best to stop me. But, with all my familiars escaped, she couldn't do much. I took cat-form, still attacking the Captain. She was on board with this at least, because, we apparently were mortal were-enemies, the whole cat-dog thing I guess. He slammed into the wall, and I fumbled around my neck for the secret weapon. I clicked on my microphone. "Everyone made it out?" I asked, heart in my mouth.

"Everyone but you and Zan." Maniac answered, and I felt a surge of relief. "Good. All I can say, I'm sorry." I said, letting some sadness creep into my voice. I heard Alucard, and he sounded almost scared. "You are not-" he snarled, but I cut him off. "Do you honestly think I would survive a full on fight with all of them bent on getting out? Don't be stupid." I said, smiling a little. I felt him move, and clicked off the microphone, unclipping the trigger from my belt. _I'm sorry Alucard. There really is no way around it. _I knew that I had to completely incinerate the Major and others.

"_PLEASE! DON'T!" _ I heard the pain in his voice and smiled sadly. _Don't beg. I'll see you in the next life, if you ever do get there. Don't blame the others, this was my choice. And don't blame yourself. _I clicked the button, feeling flames scorch my body. I closed my eyes against the bright glare, and screamed at the pain as I burned. I felt calmer, suddenly, and I saw against my blinded eyes a bright light. I heard Dennis wail, but it seemed faint and far off. The presences in front of me were so familiar.

_"Momma? Daddy? …Zan? I missed you." _The light was all around me, and the pain was gone. I felt that familiar peaceful sensation, and frowned. _"I'm dead, aren't I?" _ I felt a new presence beside me. _"Yes, what do you think? The last of the Pazúry are dead now. But, what is death? We will return." _I grinned and ruffled Dennis's head fur. I gulped. _"Um…momma? I think I liked a vam-" _She cut me off. _"I know. I saw. He really loved you, you know." _ I sniffled, rubbing at my non-existent face for tears. _"I'm gonna miss him. And he'll miss me."_ They all smiled, and my consciousness melted away. _"Not as much as we have."_

_Integra's POV:_

It was a month after Zara, Dennis, and her brother's deaths, and everyone at the Hellsing Manor was silent. The funeral was scheduled for today, and everyone was gathered at the cemetery. After the empty coffin was lowered into the ground, because we hadn't even found any ashes, we all said a few words. The H.D. was first and they all cast a handful of soil in her grave. "If you haunt me, I'll consider it payback." Said Techno, who was now in command. "I brought some pop." Said Auger, gently wiping her hands off. "I don't even know what to say to you, except, take care." Said Maniac, who was openly crying. Roger was next. "Goodbye, you unrefined American hooligan." He said, wiping at his monocle.

I cast my own handful. "You were like looking in a clouded mirror. Hellsing will miss you." Seras stepped forward, trying to wipe her bloody tears on her arms. "I'll never forget you!" she sobbed, throwing her dirt and turning back into the crowd. Pip and the Wild Geese were next. "You were annoying, pig-headed, and made me feel like a fool. You were a true mercenary." Said Pip, dropping his dirt down. The others did the same, saying things like "You were an inspiration." And "It was an honor." The rest of the Hellsing staff, doctors, maids, all of them, had something to say. Finally, it was Alucard's turn. "When I tried to turn you, you said no." he said, so quietly I could barely hear him. "You were the strongest human I had ever seen. I'll never be able to say just how much I'll miss you."

He phased away, and we all sat in silence, listening to the preacher as the rain poured down. I even saw, off in the distance, those Iscariot members, Yumiko and Heinkel. They were sheltering under the same umbrella, and were looking at Zara's grave. No one else was in sight, so I turned back to the preacher, just as he was finishing up. Everyone filed out, and I saw cats starting to gather, heads bowed, in front of the gravestone, as if mourning the passing of the last Pazúry.

_Epilogue:_

I turned over, my eyes closed. I hesitantly opened them a crack, and almost screamed. It was so _bright_.Whimpering, I closed them all the way again. I smelled burning things, and almost gagged. The stench of burned flesh and metal seemed to scour the insides of my nose, and I held my hand over it. I heard running water, and painfully sat up. It still hurt too much to try and open my eyes. So I felt around with my hand, encountering nothing but twisted shards and my own body. I crawled towards the sound, feeling the sharp edges cut into my hands and knees.

I dipped my hand into a running stream, and sighed in relief. It eased the pain, and I slipped my whole body in. I lay there, not even counting the pass of time. My brow suddenly creased in a frown. _Why do I hurt so much?_ I lifted a hand out of the water and felt my face. I felt rough, and bumpy, and I figured that must be my open wounds, since it hurt when I touched them. My eyes felt the same, and I wondered why it hurt to open them. _Wait… who am I? How do I know this is what they normally feel like! I can't remember anything!_


	28. Read This, it's important

**_Yes, she's dead. At least mostly. This is continued in my next Fanfiction, which I shall hopefully be getting online soon. If you hate my guts for this cliffhanger ending, yes I planned it all out. She'll be fine. Amnesia is a bit corny, but hey, you got a better idea!? It's going to be so funny when she meets up with him again. Heeheehee. Just look at the next update, or my author's page. Auf Wedersien!_**

**_(8/23/2013) PS: In the near-far future, I will be re-doing this story, because it was my first Fanfiction, and now that I have a dozen more stories out and have loads more practice, reading this quite frankly hurts my eyeballs. I'll just be doing some editing here and there, maybe some new chapters of stuff I thought of but couldn't quite get in, and in all honesty, just improving my first crack at being a published writer. Because if you look at my other stories, this just plain sucks in comparison. At least that's how I feel, and I want it to be better. See ya! _**

**_PPS: 13HellFES, I am answering your review questions on the way, so go back if you wish to know them. I'm working on it!_**


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